Fact Sheet

The majority of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea area is off limits to Palestinian residential or community use and development. Restrictions on access to transportation routes, to agricultural land and to water resources have hampered the Palestinian agricultural sector. Thousands of Palestinians in the area are at risk of forced displacement. Israel, as an occupying power, has an obligation to protect the civilian population.

Almost 1,100 Palestinians, over half children, were displaced due to home demolitions by Israeli forces in 2011, over 80% more than in 2010. The forced displacement of Palestinian families and the destruction of civilian homes and other property by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have a serious humanitarian impact. Israel, as the occupying power in the West Bank, has the obligation to protect Palestinian civilians and to administer the territory for their benefit.

2011 was characterized by a lack of respect for IHL and IHR. Israeli settlement activity accelerated, with an almost 20% increase in new ‘starts’ for housing units, compared to 2010. Almost 1,100 Palestinians were forcibly displaced as a result of the demolition of over 620 structures. Two thirds of all Palestinian casualties in WB occurred in the context of attacks by Israeli settlers or during clashes with Israeli forces at demonstrations protesting settlement takeover of land.

Settlements are illegal under international law. The seizure of land for settlement building and future expansion has resulted in the shrinking of space available for Palestinians to sustain their livelihoods and develop adequate housing, basic infrastructure and services. The failure to respect international law, along with the lack of lack of adequate law enforcement vis-à-vis settler violence and takeover of land has led to a state of impunity, which encourages further violence and undermines the physical security and livelihoods of Palestinians.

Since 1967, Israel has implemented measures and policies which have altered the status of East Jerusalem, contrary to international law. These measures affect the residency status of East Jerusalem Palestinians, their access to education and health services, and their ability to plan and develop their communities, significantly increasing their humanitarian vulnerability. Israeli measures have also increasingly separated East Jerusalem from the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Newly updated: The ongoing Gaza blockade (through the land, air and sea) is a denial of basic human rights in contravention of international law and amounts to collective punishment.It severely restricts imports and exports, the movement of people in and out of Gaza, and access to agricultural land and fishing waters. Gazans are unable to provide for their families and the quality of infrastructure and vital services has deteriorated.

With the olive season underway, this fact sheet provides data on the importance of the olive harvest to the Palestinian economy. It also details the access and other challenges which Palestinian farmers face in harvesting their olives while reiterating the responsibility of Israel, as the occupying power, to protect Palestinian civilians and property

Around 2,300 Bedouin communities residing in 20 communities in the hills to the east of Jerusalem are at risk of forced displacement. These communities, over 80% of which are refugees, have been informed by the Israeli authorities that they have no option but to leave the area, as part of a larger plan to relocate Bedouin communities living in Area C, where Israel retains control over security as well as planning and zoning.

Despite some improvement in the movement of Palestinian between the main West Bank urban centers in recent years, the system of restrictions implemented by the Israeli authorities continues to hinder the access to livelihoods and basic services, including health, education and water supply. There are currently some 70 villages and communities, with a combined population of over 200,000, compelled to use detours that are between two to five times longer than the direct route to the closest city, undermining access to basic services.

This factsheet focuses on American Zionist organizations that support settlements in the Jordan Valley. More precisely, it examines how these organizations normalize and legitimize illegal settlement activity through improving living conditions for settlers and promoting the settler and Zionist cause in the international sphere. These organizations use a variety of strategies and language to convey a righteous and moral image of settlers and settlements throughout the West Bank, but especially those in the Jordan Valley, through emphasizing their vulnerability and precariousness.