The Israeli regime is seeking to force thousands of Palestinian Bedouins out of East al-Quds (Jerusalem) to the Jordan Valley, where they cannot keep up with their pastoral lifestyle, Press TV reports.
Over 40 Palestinian and international rights groups said that Tel Aviv was planning to displace more than 12,000 Bedouins who have pledged to resist eviction.
The regime wants to expel the ethnic group to the city of Jericho near the Jordan River in the occupied West Bank.
“We are Jahalin Bedouins who came to this land 50 years ago… The Israelis have been trying to steal our land. They have been planning to grab more land but day after day the Bedouins fight for their land, refuse this project, and will campaign against the move,” said Attula Jahalin, a Bedouin.
The Bedouins said Tel Aviv’s move is aimed at expanding the nearby Ma’ale Adumim settlement through annexation of their land.
“Last week, a huge number of Israelis came… and handed us notices to leave the area because they consider this land to be Israel’s. This is not true because we have lived here since 1948. They’ve said they would demolish the area and force us to leave,” said another Bedouin, Sami Abu Ghali.
The Bedouins are supposed to live in cramped small areas in new towns that will be constructed near al-Nuweima, north of Jericho, and al-Rashayda, south of Bethlehem.
Tel Aviv has so far refused to recognize the rights of the Palestinian Bedouins and denies them access to basic services.
According to a letter signed by more than 50 public figures in Britain in late 2013, what Tel Aviv intends to do is “forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes and land, and systematic discrimination and separation.”
Rights groups say such measures will lead to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians living there.
NT/MAM/MHB
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