Threat of violence as demolition of Khan al-Ahmar looms
"We will respond to the evacuation with violence."
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 11:52Palestinians take part in a protest against the Israeli planned demolition of the illegal Bedouin squatter village of Khan al-Ahmar, September 7, 2018.(photo credit: MUSSA QAWASMA / REUTERS)
The leader of the Beduin village of Khan al-Ahmar said that residents would respond with violence to any attempt to demolish the village, in an interview on Army Radio Wednesday."The Bedouin outpost of Khan al-Ahmar can be destroyed," said the head of the village Eid Jahalin. "They haven't informed us yet of when they're coming to evacuate us, but in any event we're remaining here. We will respond to the evacuation with violence."A High Court of Justice injunction barring the demolition of the illegal herding village, home to 180 Jahalin Bedouins, ended at midnight, feeding speculation of an imminent demolition. Palestinians have turned to the International Criminal Court over Israel’s plan to demolish the West Bank community.This is not the first threat that the residents will refuse to leave voluntarily. The Jerusalem Post recently quoted Feisal Abu Dahok, 45, a resident of the village as saying, “We will not leave voluntarily. If they throw us out we will return to stay in this place. There is no other place for us to go.”As a protest move and as part of an effort to prevent the evacuation of its residents, Palestinian activists on Monday night established what they called a “new neighborhood” near Khan al-Ahmar, which is located near the Israeli settlements of Ma’aleh Adumim and Kfar Adumim.The IDF wants to move the families to permanent homes in the nearby West Bank city of Abu Dis.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
