God-made beauty and mesmerizing nature in the northern Jordan Valley is mixed with singing birds and the breezes of spring yet the Israeli occupation measures there steal the joyfulness from Palestinians who bade farewell to winter and get ready to receive spring.
Many Palestinians visit the northern part of the Jordan Valley especially the areas of al-Baydaa water-well al-Malih Sakout and Bardala making using of the cool temperature to enjoy nature there. This tourism became an annual festival in the area yet what makes Palestinians sad is seeing dozens of Israeli settlers and soldiers showering and relaxing in the water under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces as Palestinians struggle to find a place to enjoy their own lands.
When stopping at Ain al-Malih area you could see the green color covering the surface of the earth adding a beautiful color to nature which is disturbed by nothing but the dry water-wells at the end of the Valley due to the excessive use of water by Israeli settlers.
An Israeli army patrol unit is always stationed in the area near the big water pool and Israeli settlers and soldiers were playing there while dozens of Palestinian families were limited to a very small area to enjoy their time.
A group of Israeli settlers and soldiers made fun and mocked at a group of Palestinians from Imshi (Walk) local youth group which organizes tours in the area forcing them to leave.
On the way to Bardala and the Baydaa and up to the horizon the land wore green unlike previous years in which the land was semi-deserted in the Jordan Valley.
Ayman al-Masri the director of Palestine Weather website says: “The Jordan Valley area has this year bypassed the annual rate of rain unlike other areas in the West Bank.”
On the way leading to the northern Jordan Valley one could find a number of Israeli checkpoints such as the well-known Hamra and Tayaseer checkpoints in addition to dozens of settlement outposts and military monitoring spots.
Sakout area which is adjacent to the borders with Jordan is one of the most tourist attraction areas due to its important location and the scattered fertile lands with a total area of 5000 dunums with big amounts of water.
Facing the Israeli military gate which has been shut down for decades one feels like standing in a mines field where you have the borders with Jordan in the back and the fields of Bisan city in front of you and nothing prevents you from reaching it except some measures and agreements on the ground which turned it into pieces and prevented its connectivity with the neighboring lands and country.
Miqbil Abu Jish of the Agricultural Relief authority said Palestinian farmers in the northern Jordan Valley area always suffer from the attack of Israeli soldiers and settlers who prevent them from ploughing their lands planting and making use of it adding that dozens of agricultural vehicles have been confiscated by the Israeli occupation forces while farmers were attempting to tend to their lands.
Farmer Mohammed Abu Mutawi said the Israeli occupation authorities prevent them from staying in their lands after 7:00 PM. When Palestinian tourists leave the area at night they could feel and see the ugliness of the IOA measures taken against the area and its attempts to suffocate it.
