Bulldozers return to Beduin village for sixth time

Hours after the demolitions, dozens of protesters held solidarity rallies in Tel Aviv and Beersheva in support of the residents.

By BEN HARTMAN
311_AlArakib border police (photo credit: Courtesy)
311_AlArakib border police
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A month since the last house demolition, Israel Lands Authority (ILA) bulldozers returned on Wednesday to the unrecognized Beduin village of Kafr al-Arakib, leveling dozens of illegally- built structures. Police said one person was arrested during a protest that ensued and taken for questioning.
Police added that together with the southern branch of the State Prosecutor’s Office they are filing a lawsuit against the residents of the village. The act is a method of demanding compensation for state funds spent to carry out the six rounds of demolitions.
Previous rulings by the ILA and Israeli courts have determined that the structures at the village are illegal, while residents contend it is their ancestral land that they have lived on since before the founding of the state.
Hours after the demolitions, dozens of protesters held solidarity rallies in Tel Aviv and Beersheva in support of the residents.
Ya’acov Manor, an Israeli activist involved in the protest movement against the demolitions, said that he believed that the bulldozers returned on Wednesday after a month’s absence as an act of revenge for recent protests against the demolitions.
On Monday a demonstration was held by representatives of Jewish organizations outside the Jewish National Fund conference in Atlanta.
The protest coincided with the sending of an open letter to the JNF, signed by Israeli organizations and hundreds of citizens opposed to the continued demolitions.
Manor added that activist Haia Noah from the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality was arrested and violently assaulted by police. He added that she was interrogated for several hours before she was taken to a local hospital to be treated for pain in her neck and head. Police only confirmed that one person was arrested.