Events for Dar ElHanoun and the unrecognized villages will take place in Amsterdam (26 November), Berlin (30 November) and Brussels (3 December) - please follow the details in our website.

Background
Dar ElHanoun is an Arab village within the borders of the State of Israel. The village exists since the 1920s, and its residents are Arab Israeli citizens who legally own their land. However, Dar ElHanoun is not recognized by the State of Israel. As a result, the village has no paved road leading to it, no electricity and telephone connection, no health, education or post services. Against most of the houses of the village there are pending demolition orders, and some houses in it were already demolished by the Israeli authorities.
In 2001 the entrance to the village was asphalted, in a voluntary work camp organized by the residents and Arab and Jewish activists from the solidarity group Taayush. The pavement helps to prevent mud the winter, is used as a playground for the children of the village, and increases the village’s accessibility for emergency vehicles.
At the end of 2005 a new proposal was raised according to which Dar ElHanoun will be recognized as a neighborhood in the nearby municipality of Arara. This proposal was supported by the Istaeli Ministry of the Interior and by the heads of the local municipalities in the region. Despite this support, the proposal has not been implemented and the legal and financial threats on the village have continued.
The asphalt pavement is now threatened by a demolition order. Another demolition order threatens the house of one of the village’s residents.
Despite many appeals of the residents and supporting organizations and public figures, the harassment against Dar ElHanoun continues, threatening to destroy this old village. It should be emphasized that all the village’s residents are Israeli citizens whose families have been living on their land for 80 years.

The public campaign for Dar ElHanoun
1. In recent weeks the International Committee for Dar ElHanoun (ICDH) has called on MK Ofir Pines (former minister of the interior), now chair of the committee of Internal Affairs of the Knesset, and other MKs, requesting to represent the village’s case in discussions with the Ministry of the Interior. In response, several MKs, including Ofir Pines (Labor), Haim Oron (Meretz), and Dov Hanin (Hadash), have written to the minister of the Interior, Mr. Meir Sheetrit, in an urgent appeal to finally put an end to the suffering of the residents and reach a settlement recognizing the village.
2. At the same time, the ICDH is working towards creating a wide lobby of local municipalities that support Dar ElHanoun. Following a large meeting at the village, the heads of the local municipalities of Barta’a, Arara and Kfar Qara, have made an urgent appeal to the Ministry of the Interior to recognize Dar ElHanoun and stop the demolition orders.
3. The ICDH has also called on numerous international bodies to send their protest to the Israeli government against the discriminatory policies of the ministry of the interior. Following these requests, many letters have been sent from abroad to the Israeli Minister of the Interior.
4. In the coming month public events supporting Dar ElHanoun are going to take place in Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels, in which representatives from the village and the ICDH will participate. The village’s representatives are planned to meet with European public figures, planners, political activists and journalists.
5. A large fund-raising event for the unrecognized villages is planned in Israel in the near future. The call to recognize Dar ElHanoun will be at the center of this event.

The aim of these activities is to bring about state recognition to Dar ElHanoun, and to make the Israeli public and the international community aware of the distress of the Arab Israeli citizens living in dozens of unrecognized villages in Israel.