{"id":3490,"date":"2017-08-17T18:31:28","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T18:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/?p=3490"},"modified":"2017-08-17T18:34:10","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T18:34:10","slug":"palestinian-bedouins-fear-forcible-transfer-by-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/?p=3490","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian Bedouins fear forcible transfer by Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

UN and international NGOs warn that risk of forcible transfer could affect around 7000 Palestinians living in Area C.<\/h4>\n
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A local school, which provides basic education to Bedouin children, is threatened with demolition as well. The school currently educates 160 students [Ibrahim Husseini\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Khan al-Ahmar, East Jerusalem – \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>A last minute temporary injunction to stop the demolition of the entire community of Khan al-Ahmar,\u00a0a\u00a0\u00a0Palestinian Bedouin community that has been struggling against an Israeli army order to have their homes demolished, expires on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The injunction was granted after objections were filed at the Israeli Civil Administration.<\/p>\n

The community’s lawyer told Al Jazeera that he filed an additional objections on Wednesday arguing that the Israel civil administration has not provided an alternative location for the Bedouins to live.<\/p>\n

Khan al-Ahmar is near occupied\u00a0\u00a0East Jerusalem\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0and is adjacent to the historic road connecting Jerusalem with Jericho. Now, it is in between two Israeli settlements. Maale Adumim to the east and Kfar Adumim to the west.<\/p>\n

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Children from Khan al-Ahmar playing outside their classrooms at a school also under threat of demolition [Ibrahim Husseini\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>An impoverished community from decades of restrictive Israeli policy,\u00a0\u00a0the Jahalin Bedouin tribe\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0scrambled to take legal action to protect its’ existence in the area. Eid Khamis, a Bedouin leader, said each of the community’s 35 families had to contribute to cover the legal costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0<\/span>brahim Abu Dahouk, 52, a resident of Khan al-Ahmar, says he, as well as other members of the community, had to sell some of their livestock in haste to raise\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>around $3,200 to pay for the injunction against demolitions and for the lawyer’s fee.<\/p>\n

“I sold five heads of sheep and we had to beg livestock merchants to buy from us, and you know when you ask them to come, you get a lower price. I sold at a loss,” Abu Dahouk told Al Jazeera.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the community is being stretched to the limit. Selling livestock to cover for legal costs literally means less food and clothes for his family. But he is compelled to sell in order to keep his home.<\/p>\n

Bedouins are traditional herders and rely almost solely on goats and sheep for income. In recent years, rising fodder prices has compelled the Bedouin to sell most of their livestock. Israeli settlement expansion, Israeli army camps and nature reserves have also resulted in less and less grazing land.<\/p>\n

The Jahalin Bedouin set up camp in this area as early as 1953, long before the two settlements were built. Prior to that, the Jahalin lived in Tel Arad, in the Naqab (Negev) desert. In 1951, after the establishment of\u00a0\u00a0Israel\u00a0<\/a>, the Israeli army expelled the Jahalin tribe from Tel Arad.<\/span><\/p>\n

The community has been fighting Israeli demolition orders for years. Khamis says that if a move is a must, then it should be a move back to their homes in Tel Arad, in the Naqab desert.<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 19, the Israeli army paid a visit to Khan al-Ahmar. To the bewilderment of the community, army officers distributed dozens of stop construction work orders. Khamis confirmed that there was no recent or ongoing construction. During the same visit, an Israeli commander told Khamis, that they had until February 23 to evacuate the area. The community was shaken. They immediately contacted their lawyer and informed him of the developments.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the course of the past 10 days, UN officials, European Union heads of missions and international\u00a0NGOs\u00a0<\/a>made solidarity visits to the Bedouin of Khan al-Ahmar.<\/span><\/p>\n