Palestinians protest against decision to demolish Negev villages

Hundreds of Palestinians living in Occupied Palestinian Territories participated in a protest organised yesterday in the city of Negev, south of occupied Jerusalem, in solidarity with the people living in the villages of Atir and Umm Al-Hiran whose homes Israel decided to deport and demolish.

The Higher Guidance Committee of Arab residents of Negev and the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee called on the masses to participate in a march to protest against the deportation of the people living in these two villages and the demolition of their homes. They also condemned the policy of deportation, displacement and uprooting adopted by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians in the Negev generally.

The villages’ local councils said: “This resistance activity was organised after the legal path has been blocked. It has become clearer than before that based on years of experience that we must rely on the perseverance of the people and their strong will.”

The committees stressed that “we made a promise to ourselves and we intend to persevere and stand firmly on this land regardless of the conditions.”

During the protest, Arab MK Taleb Abu Arar said: “What the Negev is experiencing is ethnic cleansing, not developments. All of the government plans aim to ethnically cleanse the area.”

“We will not give up our land and our demands are fair. We demand the recognition of our villages and the recognition of our ownership of the land. We demand that all plans, regardless of what they are, be made in coordination with the indigenous people. Our unity will triumph over ethnic cleansing.”