Lately we've learned a few more things about Wadi Kana, and about the changes that happened in it over the last 30 years as a result of the actions of the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian residents. These changes eventually created the current threat of the uprooting of olive trees against which we struggle along with the villagers.
The land of Wadi Kana has been farmed for many generations. In the past farmers and their families lived in the valley as their home village of Deir Istiya is a few miles away. Families living in the Wadi relied on springs in it for drinking water and for irrigation of agriculture: citrus orchards, vegetable crops and the like.
The first settlements were established around Wadi Kana in the late 70s ( Karni Shomron) and early '80s ( Emanuel , Yakir , Noffim and extensions of Karni Shomron). In 1983 - and the juxtaposition is not surprising - the area was declared a Nature Reserve. At that time 50 Palestinian families lived in the Wadi and cultivated the land there. As we have emphasised before, the creation of the reserve was made without any consultation with the Palestinian landowners and without giving them the opportunity to protect their rights to the land. Since then several outposts have been established there: Aloni Shilo, El Matan and Havat Yair.
In this way, land privately owned by Palestinians has become surrounded by Israeli settlements. There is ongoing Palestinian agricultural activity in the area, and Palestinian families come for picnics and swimming in the stream. Yet thousands of Israelis who live a few minutes walk from the heart of the valley have much easier access. Eventually the degree of presence that each side can establish in the valley will determine to whom it belongs. And of course, while Israel has the freedom to create "facts on the ground" the Palestinians living under Israeli military rule lack this capacity. One example is a water channel built by Palestinian farmers from one of the springs to their agricultural plots. The civil administration quickly destroyed the channel, claiming that it will cause the stream to dry up and thus negatively affect plant and animal life in the reserve. A more acute example is the planned separation fence, which will disconnect Wadi Kana from Deir Istiya and leave it on the "Israeli" side. It has not yet been built there, probably due to U.S. opposition to the route that penetrates deep beyond the Green Line. But because many see the fence line as the future border between Israel and Palestine it's a clear illustration of Israeli intentions for the area.
Over the years more than 100 settlement homes have been built within the nature reservation - something which should be strictly prohibited. The creation of the reserve also did not prevent the flow of untreated sewage from the settlements to the valley contaminating the water sources. In the 1990s, as a result of the contamination of their drinking water, Palestinian families were forced to leave the valley and move to live in Deir Istiya.
Israel has been drilling for water in the area for decades. This has lowered the water table and reduced the amount of water flowing in the valley. This phenomenon is known, of course, in many other places on both sides of the Green Line. Yet the combination of pollution of water sources and the reduction of water available has made it difficult to irrigate crops. Many farmers have abandoned growing vegetables or planting new citrus trees. Instead they have begun to plant olives in the Wadi as olive trees do not require irrigation after the first three years.
There is also the financial aspect. Deir Istiya as elsewhere in the occupied territories has high unemployment, and even those who do find work often do not earn enough to support their families. Because most of the village lands are located in Area C under Israeli control people do not have the possibility to develop industry in Deir Istiya ( as construction requires building permits which Israel does not give ). Many of those who seek an income are turning to agriculture, and in the case of Deir Istiya they are planting olive trees in Wadi Kana among other areas.
In 2006, a sewage treatment system was constructed and most - if not all - the sewage from the settlements in the region ceased to pollute the river. Also the second Intifada ended. Since then Wadi Kana became a key component in a development plan by the settlements in the region. They have established a management body to develop tourism in the Wadi. According to the vision of the head of the regional council of Karni Shomron, who is also chairman of the management body, the settlements that surround the valley will become a city, and the valley will be a "green lung" and a space for nature and leisure activities. Meanwhile the right wing consider attracting tourists to the Wadi a means "to establish Israeli control over the area", and to " prevent the danger of a political settlement between Israel and Palestine."
This is a specific description - partial and probably not objective - of the connection between the establishment of Karni Shomron settlement in 1978 to the desire of Israel to uproot 1400 Palestinian olive trees in Wadi Kana in 2013.
So what can we learn from this brief and partial history of Wadi Kana? Firstly that the planting of olive trees by Palestinians over the last decade and the damage it may cause to the reserve, cannot be separated from the actions of the Israelis in the contamination of water sources (by sewage from settlements) and lowering the water table (from digging wells). Because by reducing the availability of clean water Israel has pushed the farmers to abandon irrigated agriculture and move to planting olive trees. Do the Israeli authorities consider the impact of their actions to have led to the perceived harm in the nature reserve?
It's worth noting that the building of Israeli settlements around the Wadi "on state land where no Palestinian has ever lived" brought the displacement of 50 Palestinian families living in Wadi Kana and disrupted agricultural activity there. Today, when farmers from Deir Istiya try to work plots that were cultivated before the contamination of the water sources, the parks authority prohibits them on the grounds that it would harm the natural vegetation which has now taken over the previously cultivated plots. The settlers spokespeople have called the famers attempts to cultivate their own land "a European funded Palestinian takeover of the valley."
The park authorities ignore the negative impact of Israelis in the valley and yet impose clear and blunt restrictions on Palestinian farmers. Sometimes even the same action can be permitted to settlers and prohibited to Palestinians: Palestinians are not allowed to rebuild their access track to the Wadi, while the Ministry of Tourism has recently funded a new bike path from the outpost Aloni Shilo through the nature reserve. Pumping water by Palestinian farmers "damages" the reserve, yet the Israeli water wells pumping a much larger amount of water doesn't. Tyres placed by farmers as a protection from wild animals have been removed by the INPA (the parks authority) while Israel is planning to build the separation barrier inside the reserve itself.
The hierarchy is clear: the needs of the Israelis supersede the need to protect the environment, while protecting the environment takes precedence over the needs of the Palestinians.
In general, the parks authority began to "protect the reserve" only in recent years, when it became of interest to the settlements in their aim to make the valley a site of nature and tourism.
Does what we have described here stem from blindness towards the Palestinians ( not acting intentionally to hurt them but also not taking into account the damage caused to them ) or is it deliberate and planned? The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Either way the result is devastating to the community of Deir Istiya in general, and in particular to those farmers who have their land in Wadi Kana. And of course it is not an inevitable situation, it doesn't have to be like this. Real protection of Wadi Kana could also support traditional agriculture, which has preserved and moulded the Wadi in relation with nature for generations.
Since Israel will not do this we need to demand: Stop Israel's exclusive control of nature reserves and archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria. Instead, these places should be managed by a joint body with members from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.