{"id":4571,"date":"2018-10-05T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/?p=4571"},"modified":"2020-02-04T09:08:36","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T09:08:36","slug":"despite-high-hopes-merkel-calls-villages-demolition-an-israeli-decision-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/?p=4571","title":{"rendered":"Despite high hopes, Merkel calls village’s demolition an ‘Israeli decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\u00a0residents of Khan al-Ahmar had hoped the German chancellor would demand Netanyahu back down from the imminent demolition of their hamlet. Instead, she called the matter an \u2018Israeli decision.\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\nBy +972 Magazine<\/a> |Published October 5, 2018\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint press conference at the King David Hotel, Jerusalem, October 4, 2018. (Hadas Parush\/Flash90) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em><\/strong>Ever since Israel\u2019s Supreme Court gave its final stamp of approval to demolish the village of Khan al-Ahmar<\/a> last month, residents of the hamlet along with activists have been hoping that international pressure, especially from Europe, will delay or prevent the demolition. The activists have directed their efforts toward convincing members of the EU Parliament to openly oppose the move. They have also hoped that the threat of punitive measures by European\u00a0states against Israel\u00a0could have some influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Khan al-Ahmar\u2019s protest tent, built in the yard of the village school, worn out activists and journalists who have been taking turns sleeping in the village over the past weeks have been waiting with bated breath for German Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s visit. The widespread assumption was that Israel would not dare demolish the village during her trip to Israel, with rumors swirling that the chancellor threatened to cancel her trip should the village be destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkel\u2019s visit over the past two days provided some clarity regarding the possibility of German pressure on Israel on Khan al-Ahmar, and\u00a0from the perspective of the villagers, things seem gloomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a meeting held Thursday with students from Haifa University\u00a0at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Merkel was asked about her opinion on Khan al-Ahmar, and whether there\u00a0was truth to the rumors about her potentially cancelling her trip. \u201cTime and again it was claimed that we conditioned our trip on this. We never spoke about this in government. This information came to us from Israel, that we might not travel, and that is absolutely false. This is an Israeli decision.\u201d Merkel\u2019s remarks appear to\u00a0be\u00a0in line with the Israeli government, which insists that foreign countries should not intervene in matters relating to the occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur visit has nothing to do with this,\u201d Merkel added. \u201cOne can disagree on it, about the settlement policy, and I definitely have some critical remarks to make because I believe in the two-state solution, but that is not relevant here.\u00a0We are two democracies and we can exchange different political opinions, also with the prime minister.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkel\u2019s press conference alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later that day only seemed to strengthen her remarks. Netanyahu appeared comfortable and self-assured, joking with the journalists and photographers who covered the event at the King David Hotel. Merkel did not speak about Khan al-Ahmar, while Netanyahu answered one question about the differences between the two leaders\u00a0on the Palestinian issue, stating that \u201cwe generally agree on most things, and we disagree on some things. So what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eid Jahalin, the spokesperson for Khan al-Ahmar, said last week that he was\u00a0happy with the support he received from members of the EU Parliament, many of whom have visited the village over the past few weeks. \u201cWe need them to put more pressure on Israel so that we can save our village,\u201d he told me. While Merkel states her support for two states, Eid says the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar is \u201clike a bullet in the head of the two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Merkel met with President Rivlin on Thursday afternoon, dozens of students from Khan al-Ahmar\u2019s famed eco-school demonstrated outside the presidential residence, dressed in school uniforms and holding signs asking\u00a0the chancellor\u00a0to intervene in the demolition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dozens
Dozens of schoolchildren from the Khan al-Ahmar eco-school demonstrate outside the president\u2019s residence in Jerusalem, demanding Chancellor Angela Merkel intervene and prevent Israel from demolishing their school, October 4, 2018. (Oren Ziv\/Activestills.org)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMerkel needs to do something, not just talk,\u201d says activist Angela Godrey-Goldstein, who accompanied the children to the president\u2019s home. \u201cWe can still save the school and allow a fair life for the Bedouin,\u201d she said. Godrey-Goldstein insists on remaining optimistic: \u201cThe question is what happened off the record in the closed-room meeting between Netanyahu and Merkel. They are on thin ice. Because of the history, Merkel is uncomfortable with publicly criticizing Netanyahu, but I hope that in their meeting she told him that the situation cannot go on like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that the village hasn\u2019t yet been destroyed \u2014 despite the fact that a month has passed since the Supreme Court approved\u00a0the demolition \u2014 may be attributed to the Jewish holidays and Merkel\u2019s visit. Beginning next week, however, there is nothing stopping the Israeli authorities from demolishing Khan al-Ahmar and evicting its 170 residents. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0residents of Khan al-Ahmar had hoped the German chancellor would demand Netanyahu back down from the imminent demolition of their hamlet. Instead, she called the matter an \u2018Israeli decision.\u2019 By +972 Magazine |Published October 5, 2018 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint press conference at the King David …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5098,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4571\/revisions\/5098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}