Tag: Umm al Kheer

“We die a little bit inside us each time”: 2 more homes demolished in Bedouin village of Umm Al Kheer

by Tom

26 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Israel demolished the homes of two families in the Bedouin village of Um Al-Kheer in the South Hebron Hills last week, on Wednesday January 25th.

Demolitions in Umm al Kheer - Click here for more images

The demolition team arrived with a bulldozer at 9:00 in the morning together Israeli soldiers and police. Villagers reported a chaotic situation of shouting and screaming and extremely aggressive behaviour on the part of the Israeli demolition team, soldiers and police. A video of part the demolition was taken by the Italian group Operation Dove:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTY_wYlzxdQ&m

An international observer for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israeli (EAPPI) who arrived on the scene later the same day, described hearing the news as “the message we had feared for two months.”  A video from later that Wednesday can be found on the Norwegian-language blog, showing  village residents searching through the rubble, looking for belongings.

Um Al-Kheer is a so-called “unrecognised village” of 150 people, situated next to the settlement of Karmel. Its Bedouin residents originally settled in the village after they had been forced out of the Neguib (Negev) in 1948.

One of the houses belonged to a widow and her nine children, who was left crying for their lost home. The second house was home to a young couple and their three children.

Um Al-Kheer has been repeatedly subject to Israeli house demolitions. The events of January 25th were the fourth such assault on the village since February 2007 and brings the number of Israeli demolitions in the tiny village to a total of sixteen houses and one restroom. The most recent previous demolition was in October 2011.

Village resident Eid Suleymann said of the demolitions, “We die a little bit inside us each time.”

The primary reason for the demolitions is the adjacent settlement of Karmel. Part of the Israeli excuse for the demolitions is the security of the settlers,  but residents feel that the actual purpose is to  “clear this area of people”and to expand the already-growing settlement into it. This settlement is considered illegal under international law.Only a few metres away from the village and the rubble of the house, house construction can be seen under way in Karmel. Several cranes and newly or partly built houses are clearly visible.

While the story of Um al-Kheer is one of tremendous suffering and of inhuman and racist behaviour on the part of the Israel state, it should however also be regarded as an outstanding example of  endurance and solidarity. A temporary metal shack has already been constructed to house the widow and her children. Palestinians and Israeli activists from Ta’ayush worked through the rain on Saturday January 28th to begin rebuilding of the houses’ stone walls.

Tom is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Bedouin village of Umm Al Kheer under demolition threat, South Hebron Hills

10 January 2012 | Operation Dove

On January 8th, the DCO delivered stop working orders to 8 infrastructures in the Palestinian village of Umm Al Kheer.

In the morning the Israeli Civil Administration, escorted by an Israeli army jeep, entered the Palestinian village of Umm Al Kheer. After examining different buildings, the officers registered the identity of the owners of eight structures and then issued stop working orders.

Among the identified structures, there is also the fencing of the football field built on December 30th by Palestinians in cooperation with an Israeli group. At that time Israeli authorities gave a verbal permission to the construction.

The deadline to appeal to Israeli High Court is fixed on January 22nd. In case of failure of any appeal, the stop working orders will be followed by demolition orders.

The inhabitants of Umm Al Kheer said that 12 more structures in the village are under demolition orders (eight of which are dwellings) for a total of 20 structures. That means that most of the village risks to be eliminated in the next future.
Two of the families received the stop working order for the houses that they are building to replace the old ones, demolished on the 8th of September 2011 (see Press release at: http://goo.gl/GekGM).

Umm Al Kheer is a Bedouin village in area C (under Israeli civil and military administration) built in 1948.   It’s located close to the Israeli settlement of Karmel established  during the beginning of the ’80s and expanded in the recent years. The village routinely experiences harassment from Israeli settlers and military.

The last events are part of a planned strategy to expel the Bedouin community in order to permit a further expansion of the settlement of Karmel. In October 2008 the Israeli army demolished ten house-tents. The demolitions left 60 people homeless. In July 2009 some toilets were destroyed too. On September 8th 2011 three houses and one toilet were demolished.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures of the incident: http://goo.gl/fruCV

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]