[News] Israeli court orders removal of Palestinian Negev village to build Jewish neighbourhood

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-negev-court-removal-village-build-jewish-neighbourhood>
Israeli court orders removal of Palestinian Negev village to build Jewish
neighbourhood
By Lubna Masarwa in Jerusalem and Nadda Osman - July 28, 2023
------------------------------
[image: image.png]
Palestinian boys walk towards the 'unrecognised' village of Umm al-Hiran in
southern Israel's Negev desert (Reuters)

An Israeli <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> court has given
Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> families in
the Negev (or Naqab) until March of next year to destroy their homes and
leave their village to make way for the expansion of a nearby Israeli city.

The decision will affect 500 native people from the Ras Jrabah village, who
have been left in a state of shock after the decision by the Be'er Sheva
Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Residents of the village, which predates the establishment of the state of
Israel in 1948, say the news fell on them like a "thunderbolt" and was
difficult to process.

"Young people have been calling me since the morning, telling me about
their concerns for the future," Musa al-Hawashleh, a resident of Ras
Jrabah, told Middle East Eye.

"We don't know where we will go. We have been here before the state of
Israel and now we will be expelled from our homeland," he added.

The Ras Jrabah case began in 2019 when the Israel Land Authority (ILA)
filed 10 eviction lawsuits against 127 residents of the village and their
families.

The government body argued that the presence of Ras Jrabah - which is
unrecognised as an official village by the state - hindered the expansion
of the nearby city of Dimona.

Dimona was built on land owned by the nomadic indigenous Palestinian tribe
of al-Hawashleh, which also owns land in the adjacent Ras Jrabah village.

The government wants to remove Ras Jrabah - an area of around 34 hectares -
and replace it with a new neighbourhood for Jewish citizens called Rotem,
which will include thousands of housing units.

'We have been here before the state of Israel and now we will be expelled
from our homeland'

*- Musa al-Hawashleh, Ras Jrabah resident *

Earlier this week, a magistrate's court ruled in favour of the government
and ordered the Palestinian families to leave the village they've lived in
for generations, giving them a deadline of 1 March 2024.

The families were also ordered to pay a sum of 117,000 shekels ($31,700) to
cover legal expenses.

Adalah, the Haifa-based legal centre for Arab minority rights, which is
representing the Palestinian residents, said they will appeal against the
decision.

It argued that the court "disregarded" the residents' arguments in its
judgment.

"Since the Nakba, the state of Israel has employed a range of tools and
policies to forcibly displace the Bedouin residents in the Naqab," Adalah
said in a statement <https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/10864>.

"Their livelihood has been confined to restricted areas and segregated
townships, and they have been subjected to harsh living conditions, with no
regard for their basic needs and way of life.

"The forced displacement of Ras Jrabah's residents to expand the Jewish
city of Dimona, which was built on the residents' lands, serves as clear
evidence that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid against its
Palestinian citizens."
'Judaisation' of the Negev

Hawashleh says that while residents will protest against the decision and
fight it all the way in the courts, they have little hope in the current
ultranationalist government, which has placed the acceleration of the "
Judaisation
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-negev-galilee-new-government-plans-judaize>"
of the Naqab at the heart of its guiding policy
<https://www.adalah.org/uploads/uploads/Position_Paper_New_Government_19_April_2023.pdf>
.

"The new government is worse than the one before, they want to demolish the
village to build a new neighbourhood… The government has not offered
alternative suggestions," Hawashleh told MEE.

"It has been difficult to process and explain to the younger people. I
worry about them, their future and where they will go," he added.

According to Adalah, Ras Jrabah residents suggested that their village be
integrated into the newly planned part of Dimona, a request that was turned
down.

[image: Palestinian women gesture as they stand by an Israeli policeman
during a protest against government expulsions in the village of Sawe
al-Atrash in the Negev on 12 January 2022 (Reuters)]
Palestinian women stand beside an Israeli policeman during a protest
against government expulsions in the village of Sawe al-Atrash in the
Negev, on 12 January 2022 (Reuters)

The village is one of around 30 unrecognised Palestinian villages in the
Negev region of Israel's southern territory.

Almost 100,000 Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship live in these
unrecognised villages, which are denied any infrastructure or support from
the government.

There are no means of transportation, no roads, no schools, and Israeli
authorities don't collaborate with their local leadership.

Palestinian citizens of Israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestinian-citizens-who-explained>
are the descendants of the native population which was violently displaced
by Zionist militias during the creation of Israel in 1948.

Today there are almost two million Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are
estimated to make up 20 percent of the country's population.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-negev-palestinians-empty-plans-revealed-new-documents>

Historical documents reveal Israel's plan to empty Negev of Palestinians

At least 300,000 live in the Negev region, and say that Israeli authorities
have attempted to force them out and destroy their nomadic way of life for
decades, through various tactics.

These include confiscation of lands
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-negev-palestinians-empty-plans-revealed-new-documents>
from
native Palestinians and turning landowners into tenants. Additionally, the
Israeli government has been accused
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-negev-plans-build-two-towns-ultra-orthodox-secularist>
of
preventing the expansion of Palestinian villages and encircling them with
new Jewish settlements.

"The goal of the Israeli government is to take control over Arab land in
the Naqab and to expel entire communities from their land," Youssef
al-Atawneh, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament with the
Hadash-Ta'al coalition, told MEE.

"This has been ongoing since 1948 and some families have been displaced
twice," he added.

The MP said he is collaborating with a Negev-based committee to organise a
large-scale protest over the expulsions and projects taking place.

"People are very angry over the racism that is taking place," he said.

"But despite the difficult circumstances, fines and displacements, people
are remaining steadfast and strong," he added, predicting that the recent
court decision will likely inflame tensions in the Negev.
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