The verdict to ethnically cleanse Khallet Ad-Dabe’ came into effect on September 29. This means the demolition of the entire infrastructure and homes is about to happen at any time.
Residents of Khallet Ad-Dabe’ are living in anxiety and fear of losing their homes. However, they are strong enough to face all illegal practices implemented against them.
Children are among the most affected. Students in Khallet Ad-Dabe’ leave their homes every day resisting Israeli obstructions and checkpoints. These children now take a good-bye look at homes every day for fear that they will not find them when they are back from school. They also do the same when they leave school. They are in a state of fear of loss.
The Israeli occupation is an apartheid regime that since its inception ethnically cleanses Palestinians from their lands. The establishment of Israel was a result of the ethnic cleansing of over 500 Palestinian villages in 1948. Palestinians call it the Nakba [arabic ‘catastrophe’]. This Nakba of 1948 has never stopped. Today, the Israeli colonial system continues its brutal practices against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.
Residents have been petitioning against the demolition of their homes in Masafer Yatta for twenty years, and now the illegitimate Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision to ethnically cleanse the area from Palestinians under the pretext that these villages are located in the so-called Firing Zone 918. In the meanwhile, parts of the illegal Israeli settlements of Mitzpe Yair, Avigayil, and Havat Ma’on outposts are actually located inside Firing Zone 918. Havat Ma’on expanded as recently as last spring.
If no action is taken to thwart this decision, an entire village with over 90 residents is to be demolished at any time. Other 8 villages are to follow.
According to UN OCHA, more than 1000 Palestinians including 560 children are threatened to be ethnically cleansed in Masafer Yatta.
It is the role of the international community to hold the occupation state accountable for its violations of international law, including the crime against humanity of apartheid. Israel’s inhumane practices against the indigenous people of Masafer Yatta are war crimes and a brutal expression of apartheid.
Palestinians in Masafer Yatta are steadfast in their lands, as they believe that their presence on the land is the only way to defend their right to exist. They are struggling to live on their ancestral land against all systematic ethnic cleansing policies.
ACT Now and join our campaign to #DefendMasaferYatta from ethnic cleansing. Intensify your efforts and help to put pressure to stop the New Nakba of Masafer Yatta.