Israel’s Supreme Court issued an injunction Thursday night, temporarily holding up the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, a West Bank Bedouin village near Jerusalem that has recently become the focus of Palestinian protests and international concern.
According to Ala’a Mahajna – the lawyer representing Khan al-Ahmar – the court injunction, issued a day after security forces sparked confrontations at the site by deploying bulldozers, gave the state until next Wednesday, July 11, to respond to the villagers’ contention that they had been unfairly denied building permits.
Mahajna said he filed the appeal on Thursday at 22:00, after which Justice Anat Baron issued an order prohibiting the eviction and demolition until the state responds by the deadline set.
The appeal was filed following the state allegedly refused to examine a plan to regularize the village submitted by its residents. After state officials respond, the court will decide whether to proceed with deliberations on the case or to dismiss the appeal and allow the demolition to go ahead.
Israel has faced mounting international condemnation as its security forces continued preparations to demolish the village. On Wednesday morning, Israeli soldiers cracked down on activists who had come to support the residents, injuring 35, four of whom were hospitalized.
Member of Knesset Ayman Odeh (Joint List) described the planned demolition as a “war crime which will leave entire families without a roof over their heads.”
MK Odeh’s words could just as easily be applied to Jewish families whose homes were demolished in Amona or Netiv HaAvot. But we shouldn’t get stuck comparing oppression. Whether directed against Jews or Palestinians, Israel’s politically-motivated policy of demolishing homes and destroying entire communities stems from the same colonized identity and lack of a real moral compass that fuels our conflict and keeps us subservient to the West.
The most effective way to resist house demolitions is solidarity with others being victimized by the same policy. Rather than justify and celebrate when it happens to the Other, West Bank Jews and Palestinians should find a shared struggle in our opposition to demolitions. If those of us who resist it when directed at one people were to also resist when directed against another, a clear moral line would suddenly exist and the policy would likely stop across the board.
