Israeli Authorities Order Ras Jrabah Demolitions, Palestinian Bedouin Villagers Start Self-Demolition

Palestinian Bedouin villagers in Beersheba began demolishing their own homes after Israeli demolition orders, with the report warning of arrests and heavy fines if the state carried out the work.

“Toggle Play Palestinian Bedouin villagers demolish homes after Israeli orders Palestinian Bedouins in Beersheba are demolishing their own homes after Israel issued demolition orders, warning of arrests and heavy fines if the state carried out the work”

Al Jazeera

Amnesty International said on Sunday, May 22 that Israeli authorities must renounce demolishing the Palestinian Bedouin village of Ras Jrabah in the Negev/Naqab and cancel the planned forcible transfer of its inhabitants to a remote town reserved for Bedouins.

Al Jazeera

Amnesty International said the Beersheba District Court would hear an appeal filed by 127 inhabitants of Ras Jrabah on May 22 and 23 as they faced expulsion and displacement at any moment.

Amnesty International said the Israeli Land Authority planned to demolish Ras Jrabah to expand the nearby city of Dimona, largely inhabited by Israeli Jews, and that in 2019 it issued expulsion orders targeting 129 villagers.

Amnesty International linked the Ras Jrabah expulsion project to apartheid, quoting Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, saying, "This expulsion project is part of the cruelty of apartheid."

Higazi said, "The Israeli authorities must cancel all expulsion and demolition orders in Ras Jrabah, and immediately grant recognition and legal status to all villages in the Negev/Naqab."

Amnesty International

Amnesty International reported that the 127 inhabitants are represented by lawyers from Adalah, and that Adalah lawyers said the planned demolitions perpetuate Israel's policies of racial segregation.

Amnesty International also quoted Musa al Hawashlah, a Ras Jrabah resident, saying, "We cannot change location. All our life is here, in this locality... Everyone in the village fears the court's decision, and we are preparing as best we can."

The Amnesty International account described how Israeli authorities do not officially recognize Ras Jrabah, and said the roughly 500 people living there do not have access to essential services.

It said the Israeli authorities intend to move the inhabitants of Ras Jrabah to a neighboring Bedouin village, Qasr al Sir, but that people there remain excluded from the state's development plans, making it difficult to obtain building permits and benefit from public services and infrastructure.

In a separate account, Chronique de Palestine described how the Israeli Supreme Court approved the expulsion and demolition of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Um Al-Hiran in the Negev, and said the court rejected an appeal filed by the Abu Al-Kia family against the government's decision to expel the 1,000 members of the family who lived in Al-Hiran.

Chronique de Palestine also said that on May 4, 2015, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition by residents of Susya who hoped the court would halt their third displacement and the demolition of their huts, leaving inhabitants homeless after Israeli demolition orders were approved.