Eyewitness: A day in Khan Al-Ahmar

Khan al-Ahmar, Palestine

Source: RHR

A Rabbis for Human Rights Summer Intern writes: It was 4 July - Independence Day in the United States of America. While my peers back in the US were celebrating the holiday with excessive amounts of booze and fireworks, I spent the day at Khan al-Ahmar. Khan al-Ahmar is a small village in Area C of the West Bank, which the Jahalin Bedouin tribe currently calls home. However, this has not always been their home. The Jahalin originated from the Tel Arad region of the Negev Desert but were sent into exile in the 1950s and resettled in Khan al-Ahmar, where they have lived ever since. Unfortunately, their story of expulsion has not yet concluded. Israeli authorities plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and move the Jahalin to a small plot of land located much too close to the Abu Dis garbage dump; all for the purpose of expanding the nearby settlements of Kfar Adumim and Ma'ale Adumim.

I had visited Khan al-Ahmar a few times before the protests on 4 July. RHR's Project Director, Yehuda, and I had spent hours chatting with the tribal elders, drinking the strongest coffee of my life, and sitting within the grounds of the school made from tires and mud. I began to develop a connection to the village and its people. Each and every time I left my connection grew deeper and deeper. I felt a sense of responsibility to do what I could to save the village from demolition. More realistically though, I wanted to do all I could to ensure that their removal, which already violated their basic human rights, didn't violate any more. I wanted my presence as an American Jew to be a symbolic barricade against any potential violence. I hoped that my foreign identity would pressure the Israeli authorities enough to respond in a peaceful manner out of fear of the international community gaining awareness about the coming occurrences. These feelings of attachment, however, made the events that took place on the 4th of July much more painful.

The protests at Khan al-Ahmar were like nothing I had ever experienced. The sight of women's hijabs ripped off while being thrown to the floor, men on the verge of vomiting from unbearable pain, and children watching with confusion and fear on their faces was foreign to me. Before I arrived that day I was slightly nervous but mainly excited. I wasn't sure what to expect but figured I could handle it because of the videos I had seen of similar situations online. I thought I would be able to emotionally disconnect from the events as I had done when I viewed them in the comfort of my own home. I felt ready. I felt prepared. But I was wrong. The protests at Khan al-Ahmar were nothing even remotely similar to anything I had ever experienced.

The sight of it all was horrifying. No amount of documentary-viewing or YouTube videos could have prepared me for what I witnessed.

To read on see: http://rhr.org.il/eng/2018/07/day-khan-al-ahmar-rhr-summer-intern/