Israeli Arabs protest planned demolition of Bedouin village

Tens of Israeli Arabs have joined a protest against an Israeli government decision to demolish the Arab Bedouin village of Attire or Um Al-Hiran in the Negev and replace it with a Jewish village.

Witnesses told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency that Arab community leaders including mayors and members of the Knesset and Negev residents have joined the protest demanding the government halt the demolition plan.

The demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and banners that read “Stop the demolition of Um Al-Hiran” and “Stop the theft of land”.

Israeli authorities accuse village residents of “building on state land, and seizing the property in violation of the law”.

The Israeli Supreme Court has recently issued a decision to demolish and displace the unrecognised village, the Israeli Centre for Human Rights said.

The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel Adalah said in an earlier statement that “the Israeli court issued a final decision to demolish and displace the residents of the village of Al-Hiran in the Negev, replacing them with Jewish citizens.”

The Israeli government refuses to recognise 38 Arab villages built in the Negev where more than 85,000 Bedouin Arabs live.

The villages’ residents live in harsh conditions as the Israeli authorities refuse to provide them with services, such as water and electricity.