publication

The Israeli annexation of The Jordan Valley exploring a history of settler-colonial expansion

Authors:
Atwa JABER
2025

Since Israel set an occupier’s foot in the stunning Jordan Valley, it has established and expanded a settler-colonial regime upon the destruction of prosperous Palestinian societies. Often justified by a hollow security narrative, this regime has embodied since 1967 a continuity of a longstanding Zionist settler-colonial project in Palestine. Today, Israel’s settler-colonial expansion in the Jordan Valley seems to approach a turning point in light of plans to officially annex the area. This chapter examines this annexation project from a historical perspective, treating it as a continuation of a process that entailed expansionist plans and policies which Israel had devised and implemented in the Jordan Valley and in Palestine at large. The chapter also highlights the implications of this process on the lives of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and explores how Israel has distorted history in one of Palestine’s central geographies.