On May 6, 2011, the Israeli Civil Administration accompanied by the Israeli Occupation Army delivered military notification for 50 of Al-Saraya’a Family, one of the Bedouin communities in Wad Abu Hindi Area, on the outskirts of Occupied Jerusalem. The notifications that were delivered to these families came under the pretext of illegal presence, and immediate evacuation of 450 people that live in Wad Abu Hindi Area.
The obligatory evacuation is set to go into effect within two weeks of the time the orders were delivered. The targeted area is located near by Kedar Settlement, and is designated for the plans set for Kedar Settlement expansion and for the Israeli Segregation Wall purposes, where part sections of the Wall set to wrap Jerusalem will go through there.
May was not the first time that the Bedouin community in Wad Abu Hindi receives evacuation orders. On March 11, 2011, the Israeli authorities delivered 6 evacuation orders to six of the Palestinian Bedouin families there under the pretext of illegal presence. Two weeks prior to that, on February 28, 2011, several other notices (at least 7) were delivered to a number of families under the same pretext. In January 2011, several (unknown number) of notification were also delivered to the same targeted area under the same pretext, bringing the total number of the threatened Al-Saraya’a Family to 50.
The notifications delivered came in parallel when the Israeli government decided to resume work of certain sections of the Israeli Segregation Wall set to enclose Jerusalem at its southwest along Gilo and Har Gilo settlements and southeast along Ma’ale Adumim (est. 1975), Kedar (est. 1984) settlements within what is known as the Ma’ale Adumim settlements’ block.
The Bedouin families in Wad Abu Hindi area are part of Al Jahalin Tribe, which is the bigger clan whose members exceeds 2700, distributed in various 31 locations. Al Jahalin Tribe originally originate from the Tel Arad area of Al-Naqab desert, but were driven out of their environment in the early 1950’s with the establishment of the Israeli State, and later on settled in Jerusalem area.
The targeting of Al Jahalin Tribe continued decades later when plans where made to expand Ma’ale Adumim settlement back in 1990. Accordingly, the Israeli Army coercively evacuated more than 1000 Palestinian of Al Jahalin Tribe that included members of Al Saraya’a, Al Kaa’abna, and Al Tayaha families. The evacuation order came in response to the Israeli custodian who designated the land there to expand Ma’ale Adumim settlements, which stands today to be one of the biggest West Bank settlements in-terms of land and population. The targeted land is not part of the illegally declared Israeli municipality of Jerusalem jurisdiction area but stands to be once the Segregation Wall is completed around Ma’ale Adumim settlements’ block.
Israel has long intended to control the areas surrounding the strategic location in the West Bank, particularly within and the outskirts the Jerusalem area were the Israeli always went to secure demographic supremacy in every meaning of the word; on land, and in service provided to the Jewish communities verses the original Palestinian ones. The Bedouins on that matter have always been perceived by Israeli to be a relatively easy target to move around when ever the needs call to do so.
Israel has always violated the international law in every procedure it carried out in the occupied Palestinian territory since the occupation of the land in 1967, violating the Palestinian human rights to adequate living and many others; to force its colonial plans of the land building settlements while eradicating the Palestinians from their land.
Article 49 of Geneva 4th convention 1949 states: ‘Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive’.
Overall, the International Law demands the Occupying Power to secure proper living standards for the residents of the land they occupy and that any land confiscation be made for utmost security needs of the occupying power and that is not carried out on permanent bases. Furthermore, The Occupying Power is prohibited by the international laws from deporting or transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
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