The Dryout of Palestinian Rainshadow Shepherds
Water scarcity distress in the shepherd communities in eastern rural Palestine.
Work in progress.
The geopolitical conflict between Israel and Palestine is manifested in various ways on the ground - among them, is the systematic drying process of the Palestinian shepherds' communities, at the buffer zones between the Palestinian Authority A zones and the Jewish-controlled C zones in the Occupied West Bank. In practice, those are the frontiers of the current (and never-ending) border-fixing process in the region. In the war of frontiers, water prevention became a weapon to encourage the “voluntary departure” of the Palestinians in the arid terrain.
The complementary technique of the dryout, is the declaration of vast areas of the frontiers as military fire zones. In Israel's borders, including the Occupied West Bank - 39% of the country is defined as a military fire zone. Within the West Bank fire zones are found mostly on its arid eastern side - 940,000 Dunams, which are 17.2% of the West Bank. The combo of the two creates a vital pressure lever on the communities - whose presence became illegal after the declaration of the fire zones post the 1967 war.
Water delivery infrastructure construction is illegal. Springwater is pumped from the aquifer, decreasing the sprout used to water the flocks. Springs that still sprout are declared as nature reserves, preventing flocks from reaching them. Any usage of concrete outside of Jewish settlements is forbidden - making housing construction illegal, as well as maintenance of traditional water collection systems to ancient cisterns. During army training, residents are requested to leave their houses temporarily. Sometimes, they find their water tanks perforated from IDF bullets.
On top of this, Jewish outposts function as catalysts. New outposts keep growing in quantity and size, pushing the shepherds in a need to look for further grazing areas. Jewish settlers' attacks on those communities are a matter of routine. The army, traditionally, protects the Jewish settlers
A shepherd boy plays with a balloon as he takes out the herd for the dry pasture. Many kids within the rural Palestinian communities miss school in order to help their families with the herds.
The expanding Jewish outposts take over lands that were previously used as grazing grounds. This makes the grounds in reach to be overgrazed. During the summer the distress rises when the arid and shrunk pasture cannot supply the community's needs.
Hanged laundry the morning after the sixth demolition of Khirbet Humsah al-Foqa, which used to sit inside an IDF fire zone.
A mother helps her boys to prepare for their 1-hour donkey ride to school, from Ein Rashash to nearby town Duma. Their school bags sit in livestock feeding bags stitched as a saddle. Often, the girls don't go to school to aid at house works.
A Palestinian shepherd walks his herd along the ridge behind an IDF range on his way back home.
The aftermath of the Jewish settlers raid over the community of al-Mufaqarah in Masafer Yatta on 28.9.2021. The village isn’t connected to water or electricity supply. Water supply to the houses is based on the delivery of wheeled water tanks on the unpaved road within the declared fire zone. Each household owns a small raised tank, which locally supplies the family needs. During the raid, water supply infrastructure was destroyed by the Jewish settlers.
An Elder woman of Khirbet Humsah al-Foqa washes her face after collecting scattered remains from her demolished house - a thin mattress, a broom, a pot cover, and children's clothing. Two kilometres away from her new house on the fire zone outskirts, in the heat of noon, she asked for my water.
First and scarce rain tends to always hit hard, in the northern Jordan Valley shepherds community of Khirbet Makhul. The daughter of a Palestinian shepherd welcomes the rushing herd caught by the storm as they reach home for safety.
Women make cheese while being guarded by IDF soldiers on the ruins of their house which was destroyed the day before, in Khirbet Humsah al-Foqa.
The village which sits inside a fire zone was partly destroyed six times, though this time the demolition was full. At noon, at 40 degrees Celsius, the IDF removed the residents' tents, took the food and water in their possession, and collected the personal equipment into trucks - including mattresses and toys, and moved it to a hill about 15 km away.
A boy leads the herd back home, stopping first to water the sheep from the water tank which supplies both the livestock and the village residents.
At sunset, the sheep and shepherds arrive home from the northern Jorden Valley fields. As summer progress, the walk towards new grazing grounds becomes longer.
A shepherd boy and their donkey guard the grazing herd. The cultivated land behind him is “Einot Kedem”, locally known as “Omer farm” over the owner name, a Jewish outpost which expands over 2200 dunams which were built in 2004. Prior to that, the land was used as grazing grounds. The road in between marks the new grazing ground border. When herds get too close - they are pushed away by drones sent by the farm or by the arriving IDF soldiers.
Jewish settlers during a flag march from Ein al Hilweh to Umm Jamal - two proximate springs which used to supply Palestinian shepherds with fresh water.
Ein al Hilweh was lately recognised at a nature reserve and was fenced. The fencing prevents access for the herds of the locals who relied on the spring as their main water source. Khirbet Umm Jamal residents are asked from time to time to leave their houses for military training. In November 2021, the IDF forces destroyed 4 tents used for housing by 19 people in Khirbet Umm Jamal.
Jewish settler's kids look at a baby camel in the spring of Umm Jamal during a flag march.
Jewish settlers during a flag march from Ein al Hilweh to Umm Jamal (in the photo)- two proximate springs which used to supply Palestinian shepherds with fresh water.
Ein al Hilweh was lately recognised at a nature reserve and was fenced. The fencing prevents access for the herds of the locals who relied on the spring as their main water source. Khirbet Umm Jamal residents are asked from time to time to leave their houses for military training. In November 2021, the IDF forces destroyed 4 tents used for housing by 19 people in Khirbet Umm Jamal.
Palestinian villagers from Masafer Yatta burn tires on the border of Havat Maon illegal Israeli settlement. On a daily basis, settlers from Havat Maon invade Palestinian grazing grounds and often attack Palestinian shepherds grazing nearby the settlement.
Rehabilitation of ancient water factories used by local Palestinian herders to water their flock, by Israeli peace activists in the Northern Jordan Valley. Usage of concrete is forbidden in C areas outside of Jewish settlements, which prevents the Palestinians from maintaining the old cisterns. Wells are a crucial survival element for the shepherds whose grazing grounds are shrinking due to the expanding Jewish settlement and are pushed to look for further grazing grounds.
The Palestinian village of Humsa was destroyed by the Israeli Defence Forces, for the sixth time. Israeli activists had gone into the fire zone with wagons in order to save Humsa’s residents' hay which was inaccessible to them, and move it to the settlement's new location - on the outskirts of the fire zone. After a while, an army patrol vehicle arrived - no confrontations were registered during the event.
Stoned window at a house in Ein Rashash, following a settlers attack on the community
The Ein Rashash community elder Sheikh was wounded in his head during the Jewish settlers raid over the village. In this photo, a month and a half following the event - he is walking to the guests tent early at sunrise.
The herd of grandfather of the Ein Rashash community goes out to pasture after feeding and watering. At summer temperatures rise over 45 celsius in Jordan Valley. Exposed land from over grazing is visible in the village.
A young man waters the herd in Ein Rashash before going to the pasture. Due to shrinking grazing ground - the community has to buy hay in summer times to feed the herd, due to overgrazing of the lands they are allowed to use as pastures.
Every year settlers announce they expand their grazing ground, while shrinking the Palestinians ones, creating random borders over the ground. The vegetation on the hill in the back is restricted to the Palestinian shepherd - causing them to over-graze
The Palestinian village of Jinba in Masafer Yatta sits deep within the IDF fire zone. It is don't of the most remote and disconnected Palestinian villages. Many of the houses in the village are set in underground caves, used by the families for hundreds of years.
A Palestinian girl from the village of Jinba in her family's traditional cave house. the village is not connected to the electricity and water infrastructures. Water is brought by tractors with water tanks from the town of Yatta. Electricity is based on solar panels.
At sunset, the sheep and shepherds arrive back home from the pasture in the Jorden Valley "fields". As summer progress, the walk towards new grazing grounds becomes longer, and water demand increases. The herd and people water consumption rely on water tanks, carried with tractors to a nearby town once in a few days.
Along the fence of the Israeli settlement of Carmel, Palestinian shepherds of the Umm al Kheir community in Masafer Yatta live in tin houses without running water or electricity.
Kids sits in a pickup truck in Masafer Yatta on their way home.
A mother looks at her son going out to play outside their house in Masafer Yatta.
A Palestinian shepherd stands in front of Khirbet Humsah al-Foqa destroyed village house content, which was taken by the IDF 15 kilometres away from the destroyed village in order to prevent the villagers from rebuilding the village once again in the same site.
Ein Rashash community preparing to leave their village for good.
A girl helps with her young sisters at their tent-house kitchen, while their mother is preparing one of the mills in their house - on the day the Ein Rashash community left their village
On 14th October the Palestinian shepherd community in Ein Rashash fled from their land following Jewish settlers harassments and blockage of the dirt road to the village - preventing the delivery of water tanks to the village which is disconnected from formal water supply
Palestinian farmers' houses within the arid landscape of the southern Jordan Valley in July.