The settlers of Maskiot, the first new settlement to be approved by the Israelis for a decade, are not ones to beat around the bush. Unashamedly Zionist, most of its inhabitants used to live in the Gaza settlement outpost of Shirat Hayam until Israeli “disengagement” from the area in 2005. As their web-site states, they are now working to create the “dawn of a new era” in the Jordan Valley, where –in their words- “the Zionist dream is becoming a reality”. There were already 36 illegal settlements in the Valley before Maskiot’s approval, and the area is under urgent threat of annexation, but, with most of the other settlers being economically and agriculturally motivated, Maskiot’s arrival signifies a worrying development. So far there are about twenty housing units at Maskiot, but their plans are ambitious: they are on a mission to build 100 permanent houses for up to 800 illegal settlers over an area of 245 acres, have appropriated 500 acres of grazing land for sheep herds they are waiting to keep and are planning to use large areas of land for the planting of thousands of olive, argan and Medjool date trees. There are also talk of a swimming pool and a “Jordan Valley Business Centre” which would encourage Israeli businesses to come there.

Next to Maskiot, but mentally miles away from the talk of business centres and swimming pools, is the Palestinian community of El Maleh –the original inhabitants of the land the settlers are attempting to expand in to. Not even mentioned in Maskiot’s self serving summary of the “past, present and future” of the area, El Maleh’s existence is increasingly precarious and the 50 families living there are very much on the dusk side of Maskiot’s dawn. On the 24th of June this year the Israelis demolished three houses in the community in order to enforce the ever increasing military zones, which severely restricts Palestinian freedom of movement. They also destroyed ten animal sheds belonging to the community, whose livelihood relies on sheep breeding.

Life in El Maleh has never been easy: they live in tent structures and have neither electricity nor running water. As they are in Area C, which is controlled by Israel despite being Palestinian land, they are not allowed to install any. Instead they have to pay 150 Shekels (around £28) every three days to collect water in tanks from Bardala or Ein El Beida –Palestinian communities further away. The recent expansion of Maskiot has increased their problems even further. The Kaabna family, who have lived in El Maleh for eight years, talk about increasing violence directed at the community since Maskiot got expansion approval: recently one settler attacked 11 year old Mohammed on this way home from school and hit his head against a stone until he bled. Another day a 16 year old boy called Kamel was detained by settlers for 3 hours for no reason. The most common problems from Maskiot and Rotem (another settlement close by), however, comes when the community try to graze their animals as the settlers frequently try to either steal their sheep and camels or, failing that, shoot at the shepherds so that they will be too scared to walk their animals -all whilst Maskiot’s brand new 500 acre grazing area is being prepared in anticipation for their new herds, which they ask for donations towards on their web-site.

The chilling fact is that when settlers like Yommi, quoted at the top of this article, talk about the need for “repopulation” of this area, what they really mean is the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians who live there.