The struggle for water access in this strip of fertile land reflects a wider contest for control of the West Bank — and in particular the Jordan Valley, which Palestinians consider the breadbasket of their hoped-for future state and Israelis view as key to protecting their eastern border.

“People are thirsty, the crops are thirsty,” said Hazeh Daraghmeh, a 63-year-old Palestinian date farmer in the Jiftlik area of the valley, where some of his palms have withered in the bone-dry dirt. “They’re trying to squeeze us step by step,” Daraghmeh said.

    • american_defector@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It’s wild to me how anti-Palestine the other comments are. Like somehow Palestinians are the terrorists in this scenario when Israel is the one with US backing.

      Had an old now-former friend try to show me videos of Palestinian kids throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers, while attempting to demonize them. I responded with like 5 videos of Israeli soldiers being needlessly cruel to both kids and adults. The conversation ended right then and there.

      The propaganda runs deep. Fuck the colonial mindset.

      • laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        11 months ago

        The Israeli Security Minister literally has multiple hate speech convictions and a terrorism conviction and notoriously had a Framed photo of a Jew nationalist mass murderer in his living room. He also lives in an illegal settlement.

      • flossdaily@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Palestinians are the terrorists because they literally are the terrorists.

        As in, they deliberately target civilians, often specifically CHILDREN for death.

        Is there misconduct in the Israeli army? Absolutely. But that is WORLDS apart from adopting a government POLICY of targeting children.

        I think Israel has shown extraordinary restraint given that the Palestinians have been actively trying to murder their children for DECADES, including electing a government that had the GENOCIDE of Jews as part of their written charter.

        • american_defector@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I don’t agree with any of the religious drivers in the scenario, and I definitely don’t agree with targeting children at all, but this is also retaliation for having their land and homes stolen and decimated for decades. You can’t paint an animal into a corner and not expect it to bite you. We’re talking about an army backed by the country with the biggest military budget in the world, vs people that don’t even have a roof over their heads or crops because the aforementioned army has forcefully taken them away. The only outcome of that kind of scenario is going to be desperation and violence.

          So if they’re considered the only terrorists in this scenario, they were forced into that role. These 2 sides could simply share the land like sane people, but religion has yet again become the wedge.

        • xuxebiko@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          You just minimized the genocide of Palestinians by Israel as the ‘misconduct inthe Israeli army’.

          • flossdaily@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            See, that’s just a profoundly ridiculous take.

            1. Israel is by most accounts a nuclear power, and their conventional military is one of the strongest in the world. If they were committing genocide it would have been over and done decades ago.

            2. The Palestinian population is growing, not shrinking.

            3. There are plenty of Palestinians who are Israel citizens, and they enjoy all the same rights and privileges as any other Israeli citizen, including the ability to hold office in government.

            There’s only one side of this conflict that is hell-bent on genocide: Palestinians. They elected a government that had GENOCIDE of the Jews in their written charter. We’re just very fortunate that they don’t have the ability to carry out their desires.