Israeli Authorities demolish more Arab homes in the Negev

A huge Israeli police force, accompanied by four bulldozers, several trailers and forces, invaded Taweel unrecognized small village in the Negev, and demolished the houses there. This is the eleventh attacks carried by the Israeli authorities against the village in less than two years.

The Regional Council of the Unrecognized Arab villages in the Negev reported that the Israeli police confiscated the properties of the residents and demolished their homes, leaving them under the extreme desert sun.

The Council also stated that the police arrested four residents, and later on released three of them.

The council added that the authorities brought camion and tools to remove the remains of the demolished constructions, and took them to an unknown destination in order to remove any visible effects of the attack.

The houses are mainly tin-houses as Israel does not recognize those Arab villages in the Negev, and does not authorize the residents to construct houses, while in the same region Israel is expanding and developing Jewish-only settlements.

Oqeil Al Talalqa, head of the local committee of Tawil village, said that these attacks aim at wiping out the historic elements of the village and force the residents out.

“But we will never move out, this is the land of our fathers and grandfathers”, Al Talalqa stated, “this is the eleventh attack on our land, we will remain here, dying in our land is an honor to us”.

Moreover, Hasan Al Rafay’a, head of the Regional Council of the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, described the attack as a criminal act carried under the protection of the Israeli law.

He added that the residents are determined to remain in their villages, and farm their lands, and demanded the Israeli authorities to recognize their villages as agricultural villages in the Negev.

“We will not be intimidated by these attacks, by the annexations and demolishing of our property, we will stay her, in our lands”, Al Rafay’a stated, “they can destroy everything, but we will stay here, live in tents, we are the owners of these lands”.

-- Pictures by Suleiman Abu Eid – Field Coordinator of the Unrecognized Villages.