Along the recently laid road that links the Zoba community to the main road and a stone’s throw from Al-Hamra checkpoint are a few small tent-houses and one single building made from rocks and mud. Jordan Valley Solidarity is working to renovate two of the homes here in order to house some of the families that live in the scorching tents. We sat on the floor in the largest of the tent buildings with the matriarch of the community whilst the men drifted in and out, occasionally chipping in with some information but mainly focussing on the building work going on just outside. The tent is made up of a few iron bars criss-crossed with plastic sheeting and dust sheets down on the floor. The heat inside the tent is almost unbearable and all of us are sweating profusely whilst engaging in futile attempts to keep the flies out of our faces. However, after the pleasantries, introductions and a round of tea the matriarch sets about explaining the situation of their small community.

There are 30 people in three families who live in this community all year round and two more families who live for part of the year in nearby Tamoun. They have been living on this piece of land which they rent from an absentee landlord since 1982. Before moving to the Jordan Valley they lived in Tamoun but decided to move here because they feared that the land would be stolen by the occupation if it was not occupied; a fear that has almost become reality with the systematic harassment of the community by the occupation forces. It is a tiny community but, unlike settlements of the same size, it fails to appear on any maps of the region, an attempt by the Israelis to deny their very existence and make it easier to justify their policy of expulsion.

As with almost all the Palestinian communities here, the families have been the victim of having their homes demolished by the occupation. The community has had four forced demolitions since the area was declared Area C by the Oslo accords. The last demolition was nine months ago. When asked whether the structure we are sitting in has a demolition order on it the family say no but that it is simply a matter of time as ‘the policy of the occupation is to destroy our homes’.

The community are Bedouin farmers are earn a living grazing sheep on the hillside and selling the milk, cheese and wool at the markets. They tell us how sometimes the settlers will fire in the air to scare their animals and even shoot their sheep. They have lost 16 sheep to the bullets of the settlers.

The community is forced to buy their water in water tanks from Mekarot at inflated prices. They have to pay 200 Shekels every five days to provide enough water to sustain the community. They must travel outside of the Jordan Valley with the empty tanks to have them filled by a tanker truck but sometimes upon their return they are held up by the soldiers at the checkpoint meaning that they are left without water for hours at a time. They have absolutely no access to electricity.

Some of the children in the community attend the tent-school in Al-Jiftlik but have to walk a six kilometre round trip everyday as there is no other means of transport available. The family pay 40 shekels a term for primary school children and 65 shekels a term for the secondary school children. The cost of the schooling is subsidised by the UN. The lack of transport also means that whenever they need to go to the health centre in Al-Jiftlik they must wait at the main road for a car to give them a lift. Just one month ago, a young girl had to wait an hour for a ride after being stung by a scorpion.