Israel planned the demolition of Khan Al-Ahmar to make room for illegal settlements 40 years ago, newly-emerged documents have revealed.
The revelations show that Uri Ariel, now Israel’s agriculture minister, approved plans for a “Jewish corridor” of illegal settlements that would require the demolition of Khan Al-Ahmar, a Palestinian Bedouin village situated east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, Haaretz has revealed.
Now agriculture minister, then settler activist, Uri Ariel was already planning in the 1970s the eviction of Bedouin living east of Jerusalem that is taking place now in Khan al-Ahmarhttps://t.co/pYSltSnrhn
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 12, 2018
The plan, believed to have been written in the late 1970s, intended to establish the settlements on some 100,000 to 120,000 dunams (25,000 to 30,000 acres) of Palestinian land.
The document in question states “in the area there are many Bedouin involved in the cultivation of land,” which Haaretz sees as undermining claims made by modern-day illegal Israeli settlers that Bedouin only recently “took over the land”.
Part of the ongoing activities in solidarity with Al Khan Al Ahmar village, Israeli occupation court postponed the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar community, near Jerusalem, to August 15.#Palestine pic.twitter.com/MhvGC6FdA8
— Aya Isleem ?? #Gaza (@AyaIsleemEn) July 12, 2018
The document also states that
“since the area is used by the military and a large part of the industry there serves the defense establishment, the area must be closed to Bedouin settlement and evacuated.”
The plan intended for the land to be cleared of its Bedouin residents to make way for Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim, two illegal Jewish-only settlements situated on the Jerusalem-Jericho road.
Israel’s demolition of the Bedouin villages of Khan al Ahmar & Abu Nuwar is a war crime says Richard Burden MP pic.twitter.com/ZCBvWU8Am3
— WMPSC (@WMPSC) July 5, 2018
Save for the final eviction of Bedouin living in these areas, most of Ariel’s plan has already been accomplished.
Israel has long sought to officially annex Ma’ale Adumim and has pushed a “facts on the ground” policy in the E1 area, which remains largely inhabited by Palestinians. If settled, Israel believes this would create a contiguous area of Jewish settlement and thus facilitate Ma’ale Adumim’s annexation.
By Razing Khan al-Ahmar, #Israel will Bulldoze Illusions of Peace Process https://t.co/296XEy7tD9 @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/XDZDgg0ZSn
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 13, 2018
Khan Al-Ahmar has been the focus of attention in recent weeks after it was slated for demolition by Israeli occupation forces. Soldiers visited the site on July 2, taking measurements, inspecting the village’s school made of tires and counting livestock in preparation for the demolition.
Israel’s top court delayed the demolition of West Bank village Khan al-Ahmar, saying it wants a new hearing after Palestinian residents said Israel ignored their permit requests.
Israel plans to forcibly move its 200 residents to a site near a landfill:pic.twitter.com/ZfxyPOCqLw
— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 13, 2018
Residents of Khan Al-Ahmar were told to leave after the area was declared a closed military zone, and mobile homes were installed in nearby Al-Azariya to relocate them.
On July 5, following international outcry, Israel’s Supreme Court delayed the planned demolition.
#Israeli Supreme Court Freezes Demolition of Khan Al-Ahmar (VIDEO) https://t.co/g33vomFzuO via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/Mtf7MJNkg1
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 13, 2018
Khan Al-Ahmar is home to Al-Jahhalin Bedouins, who are refugees from the Negev desert that have lived in the area since their displacement by the Israeli army in 1967. Israel has refused to recognize Al-Jahhalin Bedouin communities or grant them building permits, a strategy often used by Israel to term any Bedouin home illegal.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)