by Daniel Siryoti
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories tells residents of illegally built Bedouin village that they have until Oct. 1 to raze structures on their own
Palestinians
surround a bulldozer to prevent demolition in Khan al-Ahmar
Photo: AP
The Higher Arab
Monitoring Committee, the authority that oversees political affairs in
the Arab Israeli sector, and several smaller Arab organizations have
declared a general strike in the Arab sector for Monday, Oct. 1, to
protest a demotion order issued for the Bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar, located off a highway that runs through the West Bank from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.
Around 180 Bedouin live in tin and wood
shacks in Khan al-Ahmar, 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of Jerusalem
between the Israeli communities of Maaleh Adumim and Kfar Adumim.
Israel plans to demolish the illegally built village and relocate its 180 resident to a site 12 kilometers (7 miles) away.
The planned strike will entail a halt to
all business and the activity of public institutions operated by
nonprofit groups, although schools will operate as usual. Since the
strike is scheduled for the last day of the Sukkot festival, when all
public services and most private businesses will be closed anyway, the
strike will have little if any effect on the general population.
On Sunday, the Office of the Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories informed the residents of
Khan al-Ahmar that in accordance with a ruling handed down by the High
Court of Justice rejecting injunctions against the demolition, they were
being asked to demolish all the buildings by Oct. 1.
COGAT's message stressed that the
demolition was in accordance with a High Court ruling which determined
that the village had been constructed without the necessary permits.
The Palestinians claim that Israeli
building permits have been impossible to get for Khan al-Ahmar. Israel
has long sought to clear Bedouin from the area between the two
communities, and the High Court originally approved the demolition in
May.
COGAT informed the residents that the
government was allowing them to demolish existing structures on their
own volition rather than waiting for government bulldozers to knock them
down.
"The right-wing, settler government is
forcibly and brutally implementing its annexation plan and is trying to
prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state at any price," Joint
Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen said Tuesday.
Jabareen added that the government was
"spitting in the face of peaceful people and the international
community. Demolishing the village and forcibly transferring its
residents comprise a crime against humanity, and those who carry it out will stand trial in the International Criminal Court in The Hague."
Tareq, a resident of Khan al-Ahmar, said that the residents' protest against the planned demolition would not be violent.
"My grandfather, my father, and my children
and I were all born here. This is our home. We won't move anywhere
else. We won't do anything violent. That's the position of most of the
residents. If they demolish our homes, we'll live and sleep in tents.
But we won't move from here," he said.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/09/26/arab-sector-declares-strike-over-demolition-of-bedouin-village/
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