In Israeli-occupied West Bank, one village unites to expel illegal settlers

Photo via Al-Ittihad

HAIFA—In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the people of the Bir al-Maskoub Bedouin community succeeded a few days ago in pushing out gangs of settlers attempting to take the land.

The Bir al-Maskoub people reside in the village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of the occupied city of Jerusalem. At dawn last Friday, they expelled settlement gangs from their community.

Gangs of settlers had seized control of Khan al-Ahmar last Tuesday and forced its residents to leave. The settlers had stormed into the village, seizing tents and agricultural crops.

The residents of the community, which number seven families, are nomadic Bedouins who had left some time ago for the area west of Jerusalem, and when they returned to their tents, they were surprised by the presence of settlers. They resisted, however, and prevented them from seizing the tents and the land on which they were erected.

Khan Al-Ahmar is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim. The Netanyahu government seeks to expand the illegal settlements as part of a plan to eliminate the possibility of establishing a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.

The scheme, called the “E1 Settlement Plan” would also swallow large tracts of land extending over more than 60% of the area of ​​the West Bank.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Al-Ittihad

Al-Ittihad (The Union) is the daily Arabic newspaper published by the Communist Party of Israel.