Israel to Force Bedouin Village to Pay for Its Own Demolition

PALESTINE - ISRAEL, 18 May 2015

TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service

The Israeli state is claiming that the town, razed to the ground 83 times, should pay for the 1,000 police deployed to carry out the destruction.

A Palestinian woman stands by the rubble of her home in East Jerusalem after it was demolished on the orders of the Israel state. | Photo: Reuters

12 May 2015 – Israel has taken the Bedouin village of al-Araqib to court to force the desert settlement to pay US$500,000 in demolition costs, despite having been razed to the ground 83 times since 2010.

The Israeli state is claiming that the southern town should fork out for the 1,000 police deployed to carry out the destruction.

Because it is “unrecognized” by the Israeli government, al-Araqib is automatically approved for demolition, due to the use of Ottoman code in the 1950s, allowing it to expropriate the territory.

Around half of Israel’s 90,000 Arab-Palestinian herders live in such precarious localities.

Never before has a whole town been ordered to pay for its own demolition.

“There is no justice in the way the state is handling it. We have proof that this land is theirs and that it is private property,” Khaled Sawalhi, a lawyer for al-Araqib told Mondoweiss.

Since occupation of Palestinian territories began in 1967, Israel has demolished more than 27,000 homes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used demolition of property as a punishment for Palestinians he views as enemies of the Israeli state.

In January, the United Nations condemned Israel for demolishing 77 Palestinian homes and displacing dozens of families in the West Bank.

“Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel’s obligations under international law and create unnecessary suffering and tension,” said U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator James W. Rawley.

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