Police Raid Bedouin Village Only to Discover the Locals Did their Own Demolition

Photo Credit: Courtesy

The illegal ruins of Umm al-Hiran, November 14, 2024

Large police forces were deployed at dawn, Thursday, around what was once the Bedouin outpost of Umm al-Hiran, and today is a pile of debris. The villagers destroyed their own homes, leaving standing only the village’s illegally-built mosque.

National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir’s office released a statement saying, “Following the policy of the Minister and after the plans’ approval by the Police Southern District Commander, Chief Superintendent Amir Cohen and his deputy, Superintendent Efi Shaiman, and after completing all operational preparations for this operation, large police forces, with the assistance of Border Guard soldiers and police units, began this morning to demolish a mosque and illegal buildings in the village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev.

סוף עצוב לכפר הערבי-הבדואי הבלתי-מוכר אום אל-חיראן שבנגב.

אחרי יותר מעשור של איומים, הבוקר נהרסו המבנים האחרונים בכפר, כולל המסגד. מובילי המאבק למען הכרה בכפר והשגת דיור לתושביו – נעצרו.

על חורבות הכפר יוקם יישוב דתי ליהודים-בלבד בשם “דרור”, ביוזמת “בית המדרש ליוצאי צבא”. pic.twitter.com/Zl7jpXgean

— ?Uri Weltmann אורי וולטמן أوري فلطمان (@uriweltmann) November 14, 2024

“It is worth noting that the activity was preceded by numerous attempts to negotiate with the owners of the buildings in order to reach a compromise and find suitable alternatives, but some of them were rejected by the owners, and in recent days significant self-demolitions of buildings have been carried out in order to avoid the escalation of the evacuation and demolition by the enforcement bodies.”

At the same time, a police force raided neighborhood 12 in Hura, a Bedouin town near Beersheba and next to the town Meitar, and arrested Ra’ed Al-Qian, head of the Umm al-Hiranvillage committee, and his father Salim Dudu Atwa.

Police demolish illegal structures in Umm al-Hiran, November 14, 2024 / Courtesy

Ra’ed Al-Qian demolished his own home and moved to Hura earlier this week. In a conversation with the Director-General of the Council for Unrecognized Villages, Ye’ela Ra’anan, he said: “This was a just and legitimate struggle. For the fifth time, the residents are being uprooted from here, not with the aim of turning the area into a security zone for the army or annexing it to another country as part of a peace agreement. This is an area where they are going to bring in residents with a Jewish appearance and identity, and I, the Arab, am not allowed to be here.”

In 2001, the Israel Land Authority described the residents as a “special obstacle” in its recommendations. In 2003, the state filed an ex-parte motion in the Magistrates’ Court in Beersheba for the village’s demolition, without notifying the landowners, claiming it was unable to identify or contact the inhabitants. In 2004, the state filed lawsuits to evict the villagers, asserting they were illegally squatting as trespassers. The court ruled that the residents had “permanent resident” status, but also concluded that, since the land was granted by the state without charge, their residency could be revoked at any time.