United Arab List MK clashes with police over destruction of houses.
By YIGAL GRAYEFFa sanaa 88(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
United Arab List MK Taleb a-Sanaa has had his share of confrontations with the police, but on Monday, not only did he clash with them, he also needed their help.
It was a bad day all round for the parliamentarian. First his Beersheba offices were broken into in the middle of the night and then he failed in an attempt to stop the destruction of six illegal Bedouin houses in a village near Dimona.
A-Sanaa said the thieves stole computer equipment worth tens of thousands of shekels and documents relating to the general election, which are due to take place in March. He believes the burglary was politically motivated.
"It's the election period, there is competition, and somebody wants to have an influence," he said.
This is the second time in two weeks that the offices of a political party have been burgled. Thieves broke into National Religious Party premises near the Mea She'arim neighborhood in Jerusalem earlier this month and stole computers containing "important and secret" material. The police said at the time that the break-in appeared to be criminal rather than political.
Later on Monday, a-Sanaa attempted to prevent officials from the Interior Ministry's National Unit for the Supervision of Houses from destroying six illegal houses in the village of Amtenan, but was kept away from the buildings by the police.
The ministry said the inhabitants of three of the houses emptied them before the officials arrived, while three others were abandoned. Another building that was meant for destruction had already been demolished by the builders themselves.
Nevertheless, A-Sanaa condemned the tearing down of the houses, which he said was racist.
"It's a crime against the population. There was no reason or justification for it. It's a terrible thing. It is a policy that is a declaration of war," he said.
A-Sanaa has been there before. Almost three weeks ago, he clashed with police when he unsuccessfully tried to prevent the evacuation of 2,500 dunams of land in Rahat, near Beersheba. The government said Bedouin farmers were illegally farming the land, which the Israel Lands Authority wanted to rent out at low cost. A-Sanaa said the police attacked him, although they denied this.
The MK is also under investigation for a trip he took to Syria in November, and two weeks ago he was questioned by the International Serious Crimes Unit in Petah Tikva.
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