I became your enemy because I tell you the truth
“You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” A. Lincoln
(February 1, 2023 / JNS) The Israeli government on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court for a four-month extension for submitting its response to a ruling demanding the implementation of demolition orders against the illegal Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar.
It is the ninth time the state has requested a postponement.
The legal battle over the issue began in 2009, when Israeli NGO Regavim filed its first petition against what it called “the Palestinian Authority’s flagship outpost in the systematic takeover of Area C” of Judea and Samaria. The encampment is built on state land belonging to the city of Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
While the Supreme Court has rejected the residents’ appeal and upheld lower courts’ rulings ordering Khan al-Ahmar be evacuated, previous governments, including those led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have asked for and received deferments. The current deadline for the government to present a detailed plan for the evacuation was Feb. 1.
Meir Deutsch, the director general of Regavim, said on Wednesday, “We were hoping for an appropriate response by a national right-wing government, as promised in the election campaign.
“There is no justification for this [delay]. Like Cato in ancient Rome, we continue to repeat the same demand, to hold the same consistent position, to call upon our representatives in the government to act immediately to evacuate this illegal encampment—as well as dozens of other Palestinian Authority outposts created in the same mold—not to 300 meters away from its present location, but to the neighborhood prepared precisely for this purpose near Abu Dis.”
Israel has invested some 80 million shekels ($23.7 million) into a relocation site for the residents of Khan al-Ahmar near Abu Dis, where the government has prepared infrastructure, roads, electricity, water, sewage, a health clinic and school all on state land.
Last month, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded that laws be applied equally to Israelis and Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. His remarks came after an outpost erected to commemorate Rabbi Haim Druckman, the spiritual leader of the religious Zionism movement and who died in late December, was evacuated.
“I believe in the rule of law but there cannot be one law for Arabs and one law for Jews. The law should also be enforced on Khan al-Ahmar and dozens of illegal Arab outposts,” said Ben-Gvir.
According to a recent report by Regavim, Arab expansion into land in Judea and Samaria is far outpacing Israeli growth in the area. The NGO noted more than 170 illegal outposts in Area C of Judea and Samaria, created by the Palestinian Authority and funded by the European Union.
Netanyahu: ‘The rampant Arab illegal building has come to an end‘
All it takes for Evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing
Video: ISRAEL CONFIRMED HUNDREDS OF AUTOMATICS AND OTHER WEAPONS FROM BEDOUINS
https://www.jns.org/israeli-government-to-respond-court-order-to-demolish-khan-al-ahmar/
Michael Loyman