Arab leaders vow to rebuild Umm al-Hiran homes

19 January 2017, 4:50 pm

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Israel’s Arab leaders vow to rebuild the 12 homes demolished by police yesterday in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran.

Police knocked down the structures in line with a 2015 Supreme Court ruling that determined the village was built on state land and its Bedouin residents had no legal rights to it, even though the state had originally moved them onto that land decades ago.

Joint List MKs Ayman Odeh (R) and Jamal Zahalka (2nd R) attend a meeting of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel in Rahat on January 19, 2017 (courtesy)

The decision to rebuild the homes comes during a meeting between the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel and members of the Joint (Arab) List party in the town of Rahat.

The Arab leadership says it also intend to organize two large protests — a demonstration in Wadi Ara on Saturday and a convoy of vehicles from the central Arab city of Qalansawe to the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday.

— Dov Lieber