Wafa Ali speaks to Abu Khamees whose house is among those threatened with demolition by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank village

Abu Khamees was born in Khan Al-Ahmar some 52 years ago. His parents, Palestinian Al-Jahhalin Bedouins, moved to the village, which is now threatened with demolition by Israeli occupation forces, after being forcibly displaced from Tell Erad in 1951 to make way for the expansion of Israel.

The family chose this site because from here “we can reach Wadi Al-Qilt, which is full of springs and grazing areas for herding. It’s about 1.5 kilometres north of where we are,” he explains. Herding is a main source of income for the village’s 35 families with approximately 1,000 sheep belonging to the village’s 193 inhabitants.

As a result of the Nakba, Al-Jahhalin Bedouins are spread over 26 communities in the area, all face the threat of demolition.

With their position in the so-called E1 area where an Israeli settlement expansion project is planned along the Jerusalem-Jericho road, the communities have battled for their existence for decades. Israeli occupation forces maintain that the homes must be demolished because they were built without the impossible to attain building permits. Meanwhile, the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim has been growing since 1975, it is now home to more than 37,000 Israeli settlers.

 

 

                                                    

 

Source: Middle East Monitor