Open meeting :Existence is resistance - Occupation and the environment

7:30pm Thursday 23rd February 2012
[6:30pm Photography exhibition and food]
Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton

This open meeting will explore the environmental aspects of Israeli occupation in the Jordan Valley, with first hand accounts from the Palestinian coordinator of Jordan Valley Solidarity, Fathy Khdirat.

He will be accompanied by fellow Palestinian activist Itaf Njoum Karma . Itaf works closely with the Bedouin community of Al Auja, who have faced persistant theft of their water resources by Israel,alongside house demolitions and destruction of the community built school where she also volunteers as a teacher.

The talk will also cover the actions of French multi-national Veolia, which runs the Tovlan landfill next to the Palestinian village of Al Jiflik. Whilst the Palestinians of the Jordan Valley are denied basic amenities, Veolia provide waste collection services to Israeli settlements.

Jordan Valley Solidarity is a Palestinian-led, grassroots campaign using non-violent resistance to challenge Israeli occupation and colonisation in the Jordan Valley.

THE ECOLOGY OF OCCUPATION
Much of the Jordan Valley is strictly controlled by the Israeli military authorities, who use a mix of policies to stifle Palestinian development. This includes obstructing the building of basic necessities such as schools, water wells and housing.

In this way, Israel uses water as a weapon in it’s barbaric attempts to clear the entire Jordan Valley of Palestinians. Through the strict control of both water supply and planning for water wells, Israel is sucking the Valley dry to quench the thirst of it’s greedy - and illegal - settlements.

Much of the water comes from the once mighty Jordan River, which runs from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now nothing more than a muddy stream because of over extraction by Israel, whilst the Dead Sea is shrinking at a rate of 1 metre a year. Palestinians are prevented from using these water sources by the occupation.

The main consumers of water in the Jordan Valley are the huge Israeli agricultural settlements, whose intensive capitalist monocultures stand in stark contrast to the holistic approach of the local Bedouin.