WCC NEWS: Young Bedouin from Jordan Valley shares story of forced eviction

Aida* (pseudo name) is a young Bedouin lady from the Muarrajat village in the Jordan Valley. She has five siblings, and her father is a shepherd. Sheep on the move through the Jordan Valley. File Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 25 September 2025 Aida* (pseudo name) is a young Bedouin lady from the Muarrajat village in the Jordan Valley. She has five siblings, and her father is a shepherd.  The family used to live in Muarrajat village in the Jordan Valley. Before they were forcefully evicted, life in the village was very nice; they had electricity, water, and a school—until, beginning in 2021, settlers came to the village with their sheep and used violence to intimidate the people.  The settlers started a new presence inside an area designated for military training, then they came to the village. They would bring their sheep near Aida’s home, “and they prevented us from taking our sheep for grazing in the pastures,” she said. “The settlers would come to our homes, with their faces masked, open the doors of animal sheds, take our sheep away, bring their sheep to eat our animal’s feed, and accuse us in front of Israeli police of stealing their sheep,” said Aida. “The police did nothing to help us.” She recalled another incident in early 2024. “Settlers raided our village,” she said. “Two hundred people had remained after the rest were evicted due to fear caused by the settlers.” Some of the settlers were wearing Israeli army uniforms. “They besieged the homes, and a settler beat up my father with a gun,” said Aida. “I documented it in video.” Her sister fainted after the settlers ordered the family to stay in one room. “The settlers threatened that they would shoot the family,” she said. “Then the settlers moved to the neighbor’s house and insisted that the family must leave the area.” The settlers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, took away the neighbor’s sheep. “Israeli soldiers who were present did nothing to protect us,” said Aida. “On the contrary they closed the checkpoints and prevented help from coming.” She described how the settlers were in every house and that the family could hear people screaming, and could hear the noise of beatings. “At that moment I felt how much we were living under tremendous injustice, and how much we have no one to protect us from the violence by settlers,” she said. “I felt weak and oppressed.”  Palestinian families were forcefully evicted from Muarrajat village on 3 July during the night. “Approximately 30 settlers came to the village with their sheep, and they created sheds for their animals in the village,” said Aida. “They entered the school and destroyed the belongings.” They beat up people with sticks, she added. “And they sat in our midst, they prevented access to the water wells, and they destroyed the solar panels that provide us with electricity,” she said. “We asked for hep from the Israeli police and the liaison office, but no one came to our rescue.”  The people left in panic, taking their sheep with them but leaving most of their belongings behind. They fled in their cars, in tears for their village and memories. “It was a terrible scene,” said Aida. “A 70-year-old man suffered a heart attack, and the people carried him to the main street outside Muarrajat, where they begged a car to take him to the hospital in Ramallah while he was unconscious.” The man survived but he lost his memory.  “Now the people are living in an area known as Al-Awsaj land,” said Aida. “There is nothing there: no electricity, water, medical services, or schools,” she said. “They are living in tents, and during the summer the temperature in the Jordan Valley reaches 40 degrees Celsius.” The people are very sad and afraid for the homes they left behind.  “Life in the middle of nowhere is hard, and because of the rough terrain, cars cannot reach us easily,” said Aida. “I want the world to help me live in safety and in a decent home, not in a tent, and I want to return to my home in Muarrajat.” She believes the settlers should leave the village. “People from my village tried to return to Muarrajat—but that some of the homes are already demolished and the Israeli flag was raised in the village,” she said. *A pseudo name See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland