1/ Jericho is my hometown. This was my daily view of the Jordan Valley growing up from my grandparent’s house. The Barahmeh’s are one of the indigenous Jericho clans and their roots in the Jordan Valley go back centuries. 
2/ From the moment I grew conscious of the world around me, I realized the valley didn’t belong to “us”. I’ve had the privilege of traveling the world but there are places few KMs away from home that I’ve never been too because I’m not allowed. That applies to the blue on the map
3/ When I was 19, I tried to visit Kalia Beach on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. Although it’s in the WB and 15 mins away, these beaches are owned/run by Israelis. They “should” be open to us. But I was immediately racially profiled and denied entry because I am Palestinian.
4/ My father dealt with this reality and so did my grandfather. These settlements you see on the map were not built by Likud or other right wing parties in recent years. They were built by Labor in the 70s. This policy of land theft, settlements and annexation is generational.
5/ Ask anyone in the Jordan Valley how they feel about annexation and they’ll tell you, they thought we were annexed long ago. This is why we can’t help but ridicule this growing alarmist and existential chorus getting louder the closer we get to July 1st.
6/ Because it’s not about us. If it was, you’d have listened years ago. This is about you. It’s about keeping alive a grand illusion that allows you to sleep at night rather than address systematic oppression. A facade of 2SS is more important to you than suffering of millions.
7/ Jericho and the Jordan Valley is one of the poorest regions in Palestine, with a significant number of its residents living under the poverty line. Tourism and agriculture were the economic lifelines of the region. But Israel has completely destroyed both for Palestinians.
8/ Toursim is an industry completely monopolised by Israel because it controls the borders and the entire industry supply chain. It decides who goes where and because of that millions of visitors dont go to Palestinian areas and contribute to the economy meaningfully.
9/ The story of agriculture is much darker. In Jericho and the Jordan Valley we are farming communities. But without access to land and water now controlled by Israel and it’s settlements, we have lost the backbone of our identity and economy.
10/ A short drive will show you lush and green Israeli settlement farms next brown and barren Palestinian farms who can’t access their water source because an Israeli pump diverts it to the settlements. To stay alive, these farmers go work on settlements farms.
11/ These are farms built on their own land and nurished with their own water. Because of this economic suffocation and high rates of poverty, a very high proportion of Palestinians from the area seek a living in settlements. If this is not modern servitude, I’m not sure what is.
12/ For decades the communities in the Jordan Valley have been displaced and forced from their homes for the satisfaction and privilege of Israelis.
13/ So they have annexed our land and our water, controlled our movement, destroyed our economy, displaced our community and taken our lives all the while treating us lesser than because we are Palestinian. And you seem to suggest we haven’t crossed the Rubicon yet?
14/ I don’t know what will happen on July 1st and what Israel will “legally” annex, whether it’s settlements, Jordan Valley or anything in between. But I do know this, the continuum of Israeli policy driving towards the vision of Greater Israel will proceed, incrementally.
15/ The world should not be moved by what happens on that day. It should be outraged because we have been living under a system that affords you freedom and rights based on your ethnicity. 972mag.com/palestinians-a…
16/ As Palestinians we are either unfree, unequal or both under this Israeli rule in a one-state reality that penetrates every aspect of our lives. This has been our generational reality in the Jordan Valley, all over Palestine and for those millions awaiting return.
17/ If you are more interested in maintaining this reality because it feeds a convenient grand illusion, then you are complicit. This is not just about fighting annexation, which we should and will continue to do. This is about dismantling a system of apartheid.
18/ This requires systematic solutions that build a new social contract between the river and the sea where everyone can be free, with equal rights. So another generation doesn’t have grow up under this system again.
