... of Palestinian bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar

Khan al-Ahmar is east of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, and surrounded by illegal Jewish settlements Ma'ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim.

Israeli occupation forces assaulted Bedouins and activists who were resisting the illegal demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday.

In the early morning, military vehicles and bulldozers surrounded the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in preparation for its imminent demolition. The village, which is located near the occupied city of Jerusalem and next to one of Israel’s largest illegal settlements in the West Bank, Ma'ale Adumim, has been targeted for years.

At least 181 people live in Khan al-Ahmar. According to one of its leaders, Abu Khamis, the Bedouin families who live there were previously expelled from the Negev. Now they are facing a second forced relocation.   

#KhanAlAhmar Israeli occupying forces and bulldozer prepare for the demolition of the entire community of Khan Al-Ahmar; disperse residents and activists at the scene #Palestine #Israel #خان_الأحمر #ForcibleTransfer pic.twitter.com/4m3qGxpe2N

— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) July 4, 2018

The organization Stop the Wall explains that the village is made up of "some 40 families belonging to the Jahalin tribe. They have been ethnically cleansed from their homes in the Naqab (the Negev) in 1951 and then resettled in the hills East of Jerusalem."

The group added that the families further "leased the land that they now live on from the Palestinian landowner in Anata. After the occupation of the West Bank (1967), Israel confiscated the land and then allocated it for the establishment of the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. Today, the community is squeezed between the Israeli settlements of Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim."

The people of Khan al-Ahmar have received international support and solidarity. Activists from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee have been accompanying the Bedouin community joining their resistance. The village has also received the support of neighboring Bedouin community Jabal al baba, also known as the Pope Mountain community, which is also facing threats of demolition.

In May Israel’s High Court of Justice approved the demolition of the entire village despite the fact that international law establishes the prohibition of “collective or individual forcible transfers of population from and within the occupied territory.”

Israeli authorities have offered to relocate the 40 families to a location near Abu Dis, where there used to be a garbage dump. The villagers have refused arguing the location is not suitable for their way of life. In the new location they would live close together. Bedouins normally enjoy large spaces to keep their animals. According to Khan al-Ahmar residents, Bedouins who have been previously moved to the proposed location have warned them not to go there.

The Palestinian Authority has condemned the planned demolition as an act of ethnic cleansing with the goal of replacing Palestinian citizens with Jewish settlers.

"The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by the occupation authorities in the designated areas (C) and in the occupied city of Jerusalem and its environs," the PA’s foreign ministry said in a statement.