Adalah to AG, Interior Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry: Cancel Evacuation Lawsuits against Atir-Umm al-Hieran and Recognize the Village
On 20 February 2005, Adalah sent a letter to the Attorney General, the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Trade and Industry, requesting the cancellation of lawsuits filed to evacuate the 1,500 Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel from the unrecognized village of Atir-Umm al-Hieran in the Naqab, and the recognition of the village in the regional planning for the area.
The village of Atir-Umm al-Hieran was established roughly 49 years ago, following the transfer of Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel to the area in 1956 by order of the Regional Military Governor. The village's inhabitants leased approximately 3,000 dunams of land for agricultural use. Prior to their enforced transfer, the inhabitants of Atir-Umm al-Hieran were living in the Wadi Zuballa region, where they had lived and farmed for hundreds of years. Following their expulsion from Wadi Zuballa, their land was transferred by the state to Kibbutz Shuval for agricultural use.
In August 2001, the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) submitted a report on "new and renewed" settlements to the Prime Minister's Office. The report details initiatives for the establishment of 68 new settlements throughout the state of Israel, including the settlement of Hiran, earmarked for construction in the area currently inhabited by Atir-Umm al-Hieran residents. The ILA report identifies a number of "special problems" that may affect the planning and establishment of the new Jewish settlement of Hiran, among which the Arab Bedouin inhabitants of Atir-Umm al Hieran appear. The establishment of the settlement of Hiran was approved by the National Council for Planning and Building on 9 April 2002 and by the government in its decision no. 2265, dated 21 July 2002.
In April 2004, the state of Israel filed lawsuits to the Magistrate Court in Beer el-Sabe (Beer Sheva) requesting that evacuation orders be issued against the inhabitants of Atir-Umm al-Hieran. The lawsuits were based primarily on the claim that the inhabitants of the village are using state land without permission and that they therefore need to evacuate the territory and be prevented from using it in the future.
In a letter written on behalf of the inhabitants of the village, Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara claimed that, given the current circumstances, the filing of the evacuation lawsuits was done in bad faith, without examining relevant facts and without considering the alternative option of affording the village recognition. If carried out, the enforced evacuation would contradict previous promises made by the state and would gravely violate the basic rights of the village's inhabitants, Adalah asserted. Furthermore, the evacuation is being pursued for illegitimate aims which would discriminate on the basis of nationality and would not provide any public benefit, Adalah argued.
Adalah also noted that a number of individual settlements inhabited by Jewish families exist in the area surrounding the village of Atir-Umm al-Hieran. This fact, combined with the existing plan to establish Hiran and to evacuate the Palestinian Bedouin inhabitants of Atir-Umm al-Hieran, points to the creation of ethnically segregated spaces that resemble those established in South Africa under the Apartheid regime.
