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Although only half an hour drive from Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley is a place rarely visited by travelers, or even those from other parts of the country. The valley is mostly arid, scorching hot and sparsely populated with some of the poorest people in the country.

Media almost never come here to document the systematic demolition of pastoral communities, the drying out of the natural springs, the confiscation of livestock and other policies of the Israeli military government designed to squeeze out the remaining population from what Israel considers a strategic buffer zone. Netanyahu’s announcement last May of a planned annexation of the valley briefly drew some attention here, but this waned as soon as the annexation was called off.

Annexation or not, on the ground the same policies continue. In our third film of the Homeland Insecurity series, we braved the heat to take a closer look at the valley, which offers a stark view of Israeli policy and its repercussions for Palestinians.

This film serves as a brief introduction to a complex issue.