Israeli authorities ‘coerce’ elderly Palestinian to sign house demolition order

The Israeli occupation authorities have been accused of coercing an elderly Palestinian into signing an order to demolish 15 homes in the Negev village of Umm Al-Hiran, Safa news agency has reported. Ahmed Abul-Qi’an is 74 and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

“Israeli police officers and employees of the Israel Land Authority came to the village very late at night on Friday,” said the head of the local village committee, Raed Abul-Qi’an. “Friday is an official holiday, but they took Ahmed into a corner and pushed him to sign the demolition orders. It was criminal.”

When the elderly Palestinian was told that he was tricked by the Israeli police, he fell unconscious and was admitted to hospital where he was treated for two days.

According to the demolition orders, the residents must move to a new neighbourhood called Hora. Their homes must be demolished by 30 December.

Abul-Qi’an denounced the weak popular and official Arab solidarity with the Bedouin issue. He called for a real movement against the “Israeli plans to uproot” the Palestinian Bedouin from their land. Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch called the Israeli efforts to displace the Arabs of Umm Al-Hiran “ethnic cleansing” and demanded international intervention to prevent it from escalating.