IN STEREO

There are many challenges. The first and main challenge is that the area of the valley is located in the C-classified area. Do you know about the classifications? It’s under full Israeli civil administrative and security control. So there is no real authority for the Palestinian Authority, or even the municipalities and village councils of the neighbouring areas. Actually, the most dangerous thing is that it’s not allowed for Palestinians to adopt strategies and implement them for the area. They don’t allow people to do work there; many times, they intervene. The other threat from the Israeli side is the confiscation. They already expanded the settlements in the area, and they plan to establish [more] settlements.

Recently, during the last few months, they confiscated part of the Battir community lands located in the Makhrour Valley. They excavated a long road for the settlers, since they are starting to establish a new settlement on the land of the Makhrour Valley. So it’s not only expectation or plans – they are doing this on the ground. The other thing: they constructed Route 60 and the tunnel checkpoint, if you know it? It’s on the side of Makhrour, and there are plans to start another road beside it, expanding it to another path, which will require excavating and confiscating more land, damaging more land and damaging the nature more and more. – Rami