Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of demolishing al-Khan al-Ahmar village and relocating its 35 Bedouin families to al-Eizariya town east of Jerusalem.
Head of the community Eid Jahalin said that al-Khan al-Ahmar residents completely reject the court’s decision.
Jahalin affirmed that the only alternative they would accept to al-Khan al-Ahmar which they have been living in since 1953 is Tel Arad village in the Negev from which they were expelled by the Israeli authorities.
According to Jahalin a court hearing was held on 25th April on the petition filed by al-Khan al-Ahmar residents against the deportation decision. The court then decided to give them a 10-day time limit to find a place to move to instead of al-Eizariya.
Jahalin slammed the Palestinian negotiating delegation who signed the Oslo Accords which said that Area C was not populated.
He continued to say “Our expulsion from al-Khan al-Ahmar is part of Wadi Araba Treaty which was signed between Jordan and Israel and provides from establishing a peace route that connects Tel Aviv with Jordan at the expense of the families living in al-Khan al-Ahmar.”
He pointed out that the demolition and deportation decision is expected to be implemented at any moment.
There are 23 Bedouin communities in East Jerusalem and they are inhabited by 5000 Palestinians.
Jahalin noted that the demolition of al-Khan al-Ahmar will be the first of a series of demolition and deportation campaigns targeting the rest of the Bedouin communities in favor of the settlement project E1 which is aimed at separating the northern part of the West Bank from the southern one.
Al-Khan al-Ahmar is inhabited by 35 families and has a school with 170 students and 16 employees.
Jahalin said that al-Khan al-Ahmar residents have been repeatedly subjected to fierce attacks and demolition operations by the Israeli occupation forces since 1953.
