Maale Adumim Settlment and Khan El Ahmar Village

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February 2013

Khan Al Ahmar Bedouins and Ma’ale Adumim Settlement Access Rights

Khan El Ahmar – Jahalin Bedouin Village:

Clans from five tribes of the Negev Bedouin entered the West Bank seeking refugee status with UNRWA following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. As with all refugee communities, each tribe has its own historical account of the steps which led to its expulsion and its subsequent plight. The Jahalin Tribe is the largest refugee tribe in the West Bank today. The Bedouin of the Jahalin Tribe originate from the Tel Arad district of the Negev desert. Their traditional tribal territory ranges from 50km north east of Bir Sheva to 30km west of the Dead Sea and 30km south of Hebron City. Tribal history relates that from 1949 the Israeli Authorities began a campaign of forced evacuation against the Bedouin in the Tel Arad region. Refusing to collaborate with the IDF, the Jahalin came under increasing pressure from the Israeli forces to leave their lands. Physical and psychological violence increased, resulting in the demolition and burning of homes and the fatal shootings of at least five of the Jahalin by Israeli troops. Following the shootings and ongoing violence, the Jahalin Tribe fled their tribal territories to the edges of the Negev, before moving into Jordan and the West Bank, seeking refugee status with UNRWA in the early 1950s. Ma'ale Adumim is a nearby settlement to the village and is the third largest settlement in the West Bank, which was privately owned Palestinian land. These lands are from the villages of Abu Dis, al-Eizariya, Al-Issawiya, At-Tur and 'Anata and were expropriated for building in Ma'ale Adumim. Bedouin’s Life:

Bedouin in Khan El Ahmar village are not allowed to practice any human rights that are internationally recognized that includes the right to education, health, food and shelter not to mention the right to free movement. Eid Abu Hamis, community leader of Khan El Ahmar, mentioned that children in the village do not have a safe and health life as settler children do. About 6 children died and other 6 were injured to the brutal settler’s practices against the Bedouin children. When Bedouin children go to the shepherds, Israeli forces tend to place explosive materials in new glasses or pens or other things that might attract a deprived child to pick up from the floor that could lead to their own death as a way to scare the Bedouin and force them to leave and take over their only left land. When the family needs

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to issue death certificates from the Israeli authorities, since they are placed in Area C, what they receive instead is a fine of 1000 shekels, about $300, as a punishment of being in that area. Bedouins used to depend on selling their dairy goods in Jerusalem. Nowadays, they are now not allowed to access to Jerusalem because of the permit issue. Therefore, their source of income is becoming even more limited. The remaining alternative for them was to sell some of their sheep herds in order to buy foodstuffs for the other herbs to assure some food materials in hands. Boys in the village would walk almost 20 Kms to Jericho to school, but girls were not allowed to go because it was too dangerous. Five children did die by being hit by a car on the freeway, either on their way to or from school. In 1990, the heads of the village requested from the Israeli government to approve building a school in the village or at least provide transportation means to easy the lives of the children, but their request was simply being rejected. In 1998, the heads requested from the Palestinian Authority to provide a bus for their children’s transportation needs and they approved it on the spot. A German Mercedes bus was purchased and since then the Israeli authorities did not allow its entrance. The heads decided to build a small school in the village using car wheels and mud in cooperation with many local and international organizations since no building with concrete material is allowed in the village. There are approximately 90 children enrolled at the school and about 50% are girls. This is remarkable in itself because since this school opened, the Bedouin girls have access to education. Although these 90 Bedouin children do have access to education at present, it is in jeopardy because of a demolition order hanging over their school. All building is restricted in the West Bank. Even if they did apply for a building permit, they would not be granted one because, according to the Israeli Government, these Bedouin Villages are illegal. Therefore, at any time the situation at the Khan Al Ahmar School might change and the anxiety causes insecurity among the teachers and the villagers. Israeli Violations of Human Rights and International Law:

The Israeli government, as the prime duty-bearer, did not respect, protect and fulfill the right to education by making education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable to the Bedouin children. Israel has violated all statements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where everyone has the right to education. Israel also violated the Palestinian rights of accessing water. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated that “the human right to water is indispensable for

leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights”, which is not in the case of the villagers. Settlers in the Ma’ale Adumim or Kfar Adumim place rocks in the water wells in Wadi Fukin or damage the water pipelines that are connected with the village to prevent running water from being available to them to drink and use for the daily use. The Israeli Government does not place any sanctions on those settlers since they are above and below the law. The village does not have electricity sources but still is considered the only village that has a solar energy source. Nonetheless, children have to study before the sunset because they will not be able to see in the dark. This is preventing children from having a normal way of practicing their educational needs compared to the children in the settlements.

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Under such circumstances, Israel is not providing the Palestinians with their right to housing through adequate housing and shelter as being recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights since they consider the village illegal. Ma'ale Adumim is widely regarded by the international community as illegal under international law according to the Fourth Geneva Convention (article 49), which prohibits an occupying power transferring citizens from its own territory to occupied territory. Israel maintains that international conventions relating to occupied land do not apply to the West Bank because they were not under the legitimate sovereignty of any state in the first place. Expropriation of land for settlement purposes is forbidden, not only under international law but also according to the long-standing, official position of Israeli governments. Expropriation of land for settlement purposes is forbidden, not only under international law but also according to the long-standing, official position of Israeli governments. Most settlements were built on area that was declared state land or on land that was requisitioned - ostensibly temporarily - for military purposes. It appears that in Ma'ale Adumim, the government decided to permanently expropriate the land because it viewed the area as an integral part of Jerusalem that would forever remain under Israeli control. If Israel is to apply home demolitions and arbitrary displacement orders on the Bedouins, they will be violating the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of the person and of his family, including sufficient and adequate food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security. The arbitrary displacement of the Jahalin Bedouin thus violates article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Comparison between the Bedouin Village and Ma’ale Adumim Settlement:

The difference is pretty clear of how Palestinians are living in the worst life conditions while the Settlers are enjoying their high living standards on the Palestinian lands, which were confiscated for military purposes and ended up in being the third largest settlement in the West Bank.

o Education:

In 2011, Ma'ale Adumim had 21 schools and 80 kindergartens. A large portion of Ma'ale Adumim's budget is spent on education. Schools offer after-school programs, class trips, and tutoring where needed. Ma'aleh Adumim has won the Israel Ministry of Education prize for excellence twice. It has also won the national prize for environmental quality in recognition of its emphasis on urban planning, green space, playgrounds and outdoor sculptures. Ma’ale Adumim’s educational system acts under the banner of placing their children’s education at the top priority, starting from kindergarten and up to the completion of studies in the post-primary education. The settlement has the Bnai Zion Shalom library that provides access to a wide and most updated selection of reading

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and reference books and staff is available for consultation on educational, reference, leisure and recreational matters. In comparison with that, the village has small rooms for children reaching a certain age before they leave to far distanced schools to peruse their education. Their educational environment is nothing compared to the one in the settlement.

o Healthcare:

Medical services are provided in the settlement through all four health maintenance organizations (kupot holim). There is also a large geriatric hospital, Hod Adumim, also providing care for recuperating patients and chronic patients. It is also used for senior citizens residence. It has facilities for nursing, the elderly, the handicapped, through the most extreme needs. On the other hand, the village has no kind of health care whatsoever and the only way for them to receive such services is for the people to go to the nearest health care provider, which is in Jericho. Old people and pregnant women have to jump over a half-meter metal road safety barrier to reach the road and walk few kilometers to get transportation to go to the hospital.

Bedouin Village Ma’ale Adumim Setllement

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Bedouin School Ma’ale Adumim School

Bedouin Recreational Area Ma’ale Adumim Recreational Area

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Threat of Two-State Solution:

Israel has decided to advance the planning of thousands of apartments in the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, as part of the E-1 plan1, in the area connecting the settlement to Jerusalem. This decision was reached following the UN General Assembly’s recognition of Palestine as a state with UN observer status. The implementation of construction plans in E1 will create an urban bloc between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem, exacerbate the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and will divide the West Bank into two separate areas, north and south. The establishment of settlements in occupied territory runs counter to international humanitarian law, which prohibits the transfer of people from the occupying state into the occupied area. In addition, the establishment of Israeli settlements leads to numerous violations of Palestinians’ human rights. The plan to expel Bedouin communities who reside in these areas is a further breach of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the forcible transfer of protected persons, such as these communities, unless done for their own safety or for an urgent military need. Even then, it is permissible only on a temporary basis. Khan al-Ahmar is part of a cluster of Bedouin communities living in or near the E1 corridor, and is deemed one of the few remaining obstacles to long-held Israeli plans to link the holy city directly with the third-largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Israel considers itself as the most Democratic state in the Middle East. Being democratic means

respecting the International Laws, International Humanitarian Laws, and International Human

Rights Law, and UN Resolutions. After elaborating such huge difference in access rights between

the settlers in settlements and Palestinians in the Bedouin area, is this Democracy that Israel is

practicing?

1 http://peacenow.org/entries/post_69#.URNUa_IX6So

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ACT Palestine Forum Actions:

Israel is about to expel Bedouin from homes to expand settlements, the ACT Palestine Forum calls on Churches and Governments to place pressures on the Israeli Government to request from the Israeli military to order an immediate halt to all demolitions in the 20 communities affected by the E1 plan. As ACT Palestine Forum, we should call upon the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, the Special Representative to the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people to request of the government of Israel the following:

• Stop the construction of and dismantle the Wall and annul all related legal acts pertaining to the administrative regime established, particularly the permit and closure system, as stipulated in the International Court of Justice advisory opinion and UN Resolutions ES-10/13 of 21 October 2003 and A/RES/ES-10/15 of 2 August 2004;

• Explain how the eviction/displacement of the Jahalin Bedouin is consistent with Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under Humanitarian Law and under International Human Rights Law and prove that eviction/displacement is unavoidable and in accordance with International Human Rights Law, undertaken solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare of the protected population, reasonable and proportional, and regulated so as to ensure full and fair rehabilitation of the displaced;

• Allow the Jahalin Bedouin to remain where they presently reside, and cease issuing eviction, home demolition and stop-work orders;

• Cancel all pending eviction, home demolition and stop-work orders;

• Refrain from taking any measures that lead to the arbitrary displacement, i.e. population transfer, of the Jahalin Bedouin, including practices of home demolition and land confiscation;

• Cancel the E1 plan and planned expansion of the Jewish settlement of Ma'ale Adumim.

• Improve the conditions of life and work and levels of health and education through the participation and cooperation of the Bedouin and ensure the availability and accessibility of employment;

• Recognize the rights of the Jahalin Bedouin to the land they traditionally inhabit and use for their subsistence and traditional activities;

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• Give building permits to Palestinians, including the Jahalin Bedouin, residing in Areas Band C of the occupied West Bank;

• Allow internally displaced persons in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Jahalin Bedouin, to return to their homes and places of habitual residence in accordance with International Law, the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the UN Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons; and

• Allow Palestinian refugees, including the Jahalin Bedouin, to return to their homes of origin in Israel, and respect their right to a remedy and reparation, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantee of non-repetition in accordance with UN Resolution 194, the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, and the UN Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons.

ACT Palestine Forum respectfully request from all Churches and Church related organizations to invite the Special Representatives on internally displaced persons and children in armed conflict and the Special Rapporteurs on housing, the occupied Palestinian territories and indigenous people to:

• Send urgent communications to the highest levels of the Israeli government addressing the above;

• Include recommendations for appropriate intervention by UN bodies on the case of the Jahalin Bedouin in the occupied Palestinian territories based on the reporting requirements of each individual mandate; and

• Visit the occupied Palestinian territories to assess the situation of internal displacement, including the situation of Jahalin Bedouin and other Palestinian communities facing arbitrary displacement.