Hundreds of Palestinians rallied and observed the Friday khutba (sermon) and prayer in the Negev village of Umm al-Hiran whose residents are threatened with displacement in order to build a Jewish-only town.
The event was organized by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab citizens of Israel as part of activities intended to mark the 41st Land Day.
In his khutba Sheikh Ra’ed Salah head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands strongly denounced Israel’s escalating crimes against the Palestinians including its persistence in seizing more lands razing homes and killing citizens extrajudicially and enacting racist laws like the anti-Adhan legislation bill and the mass demolition of Arab homes.
“Umm al-Hiran is our land home roots existence and history. Our ancestors walked in here and we will stay here until we die” Sheikh Salah said.
“Some of us may be martyred imprisoned persecuted or afflicted with all sorts of woes yet we will stay in love with our land” he added.
Umm al-Hiran is a Bedouin village located in the Wadi Atir area of the Negev desert in southern Israel. Located near Hura the village was established in 1956 and is one of 46 unrecognized Bedouin villages in Israel.
