BICOM

The Israeli Supreme Court yesterday approved the demolition of Bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank.

Three justices unanimously rejected petitions challenging the demolition that were submitted by the residents of the village against the Israeli Government. The Court ruled that the temporary injunction barring the eviction of residents be cancelled within seven days, at which point the demolition can be implemented.

The judges also rejected the request to delay the demolition until an alternative site is found for its residents. The state’s plan to relocate the village near a rubbish dump belonging to the Palestinian town of Abu Dis was rejected by the residents, as was another proposal that would have moved them to a site near the sewage treatment plan in the vicinity of the Mitzpe Jericho settlement.

Justice Hanan Melcer, who noted that he hoped the eviction would be carried out peacefully and would not be met with any physical resistance, said that any new petition to postpone the demolition of the school based on the argument that the school year had already began would be immediately rejected. He said “the school was populated and classes were begun before the start of the school year in the Palestinian Authority with the transparent intention of mounting a future argument that the school year had already begun”.

Palestinian Authority Minister Walid Assaf, described the ruling as “ethnic cleansing…..we’re beginning an open-ended strike.”

The Israeli Government say the village had been built on state-owned land and its houses were constructed without permits, which put residents at risk because of their proximity to a highway. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “No one is above the law. No one can stop us from implementing our sovereignty and responsibility as a state.”

Khan al-Ahmar is home to 180 Bedouin who live in tin shacks and tents. The legal action to demolish the village began a decade ago when three new structures were built without a construction permit. Some of those structures serve as a school, which received funding from the EU.

The UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have submitted complaints to the Israeli Government making clear their opposition to the plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, reportedly warning Israeli officials that the demolition of the village “would trigger a reaction from EU member states”.