14.8.09

Dar ElHanoun – call for help – escalation in persecution by Israeli police and Ministry of Interior

Two months ago a new plan of the Israeli Ministry of Planning Construction was announced, aiming to build a new big town, for Ultra-Orthodox Jews only, two hundreds meters away from the land of the old Arab village of Dar ElHanoun. Also in this plan the village remains in the status of "unrecognized". This is despite the fact that it is within the borders of the State of Israel, its inhabitants are citizens of Israel, and it was founded many years before the foundation of Israel. Against one of the houses of Dar ElHanoun a demolition order had already been issued, and this order is now being disputed at the Israeli Supreme Court.

While the inhabitants are trying to grasp the implications of the plan for a city at their doorstep, a new threat has appeared. In the morning of August 6, 2009, inspectors of the Israeli Ministry of Interior arrived in the village, accompanied by dozens of police officers. The inspectors distributed letters, personally inviting each house owner for an interrogation. In the letters the ministry informs the inhabitants on their being suspected of offences against the Israeli Law of Planning Construction (1965). The owners were summoned for interrogation, threatened that they might be sewed for allegedly breaking the law.

The police officers and the inspectors appeared during the day, when the men of the village were away for their work. The visit intimidated the women and children of the village. This is another escalation in the ministry's attempts to harass the villagers, whose village predates both the law under discussion and the state that created it.

These recent steps are most likely aimed at evicting the Arab inhabitants from their village before final approval of the plan for a new Jewish city. These attempts only emphasize the discrimination that is manifested by the policies of the Israeli government: while new settlements for Jews are continuously built in the area of Dar ElHanoun, the Israeli Ministry of Interior is threatening the old Arab village in order to create more "free" space for a city, designed for Jews alone.

The inhabitants of Dar ElHanoun are determined to remain on their land. We – supporters of the village from all over the world – will continue supporting them in any possible way. Please write a letter to the Israeli Ministry of Interior calling it to stop its harassment of Dar ElHanoun and recognize it officially as a locality of the State of Israel. If you live outside of Israel, accompany this letter by a letter to the nearest Israeli diplomatic agency.

State of Israel Ministry of Interior
Phone: +972-2-6293350
Fax: +972-2-6293323
Address: P.O.Box 1333, Jerusalem 91012, Israel
Email: pniot@moin.gov.il




back to Dar ElHanoun's webpage