Israeli Supreme Court to Hear Appeal against Decision to Evacuate Arab Bedouin Village of Umm el-Hieran and Build a new Jewish Village on its Ruins

• Although the court has yet to issue a decision, the Israeli Government has decided to accelerate the destruction of Umm el-Hieran located in the Naqab.

• The Beer Sheva District Court found that the people of Umm el-Hieran were living on the land by order of and with the approval of the state.                                                

Tomorrow, Wednesday 20 November 2013, at 11:30 am, the Israeli Supreme Court will hear an appeal brought by Adalah on behalf of residents of the unrecognized Arab Bedouin village of Umm el-Hieran-Atir in the Naqab/Negev desert in southern Israel.

The appeal seeks to overturn a district court decision ordering the evacuation of all homes in the village in order to pave the way for their demolition and the establishment of a new Jewish village named ‘Hiran’ on their ruins. If the court accepts the motion to appeal, it will reopen the legal case; and if it rejects the appeal, it will mark the end of the road for the legal defense of Umm el-Hieran-Atir, home to 1000 Arab Bedouin citizens of the state and facilitate the demolition of the village.

The village of Umm el-Hieran was established by order of the military governor in 1956 after the Israeli army forcibly displaced its residents from their homes in the area of Wadi Zubaleh. The villagers, who are citizens of Israel, were given 7,000 dunams of land to live on and cultivate. In 2003, the state began its attempts to evacuate the villagers by issuing evacuation lawsuits and ex parte demolition orders against them, using these two separate legal procedures.

In 2011, the Beer Sheva Magistrates’ Court approved home demolition orders and Adalah appealed to the Beer Sheva District Court against the decision. Several cases remain pending. During its deliberations on the evacuations case, the District Court held that the people of Umm el-Hieran were not “trespassers”, rejecting the state’s arguments, and that they had been transferred to their current location in 1956 with the state’s agreement. However, the court also held that since the state had not given them the land for free, it had the right to cancel the agreement and reclaim the land.

The fact that the case is pending before the Supreme Court has not prevented the Israeli Government from issuing a decision to expedite the planning process for the establishment of a new Jewish town – Hiran – which it expects to be completed by the end of 2013. A group of Jewish citizens have established a temporary, gated, caravan community in a forest adjacent to Umm el-Hieran and are waiting for the state to demolish the villagers’ homes, paving the way for them to move to Hiran.

For more information:

Read Adalah’s report, "Nomads Against Their Will: The Example of Atir-Umm el-Hieran"

Watch the video "Umm al-Hieran Unrecognized Village v. Hiran Settlement" by Adalah and the Negev Coexistence Forum

Read more about the Israeli government’s plan to forcibly displace thousands of Arab Bedouin citizens in the Naqab (Negev)