Christian Aid vows to continue holding Israel to account for land seizures

Christian Aid says the demolition of a mosque and homes in Umm al-Hiran is symptomatic of a "dehumanising" policy of forced displacements.

The demolition of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in southern Israel, apparently to make way for the construction of a Jewish Israeli town, is the latest example of Israeli government policy to force Palestinians from their land across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (IOPT).

Christian Aid's IOPT Programme Manager, Katie Roxburgh, said: "Forcing residents who are Israeli citizens to demolish their own homes to avoid paying large fees for the state to do so is a dehumanizing policy. It demonstrates the Israeli government's disregard for its own citizens.

"Palestinians experience discrimination on a systematic basis, from forced displacement to dual systems of law according to ethnicity. Christian Aid supports our partners to work across IOPT to hold the Israeli government to account for discriminatory laws, policies and practices.

"The international community must do more to end the culture of impunity that allows Israel to carry out acts of discrimination and forced displacement, as we have seen in Umm al-Hiran, and we continue to see in areas of the occupied Palestinian territory, in Gaza and the West Bank."

Christian Aid has supported the Arab minority legal rights group Adalah with this case for many years to help the Bedouins who live there, and who are Israeli citizens, to stay on their land.