Israeli court issues home demolition orders without presence of affected families

[Tom Joad]

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5914.shtml

Report, Adalah, 31 October 2006

Beer el-Sabe Magistrate Court Orders Freeze of Six Ex Parte Home Demolition Orders in the Unrecognized Arab Bedouin Village of Umm al-Hieran in the Naqab

The ease with which the state obtains ex parte orders for home demolitions from the Beer el-Sabe Magistrate Court, without the presence of the affected families, is a dangerous phenomenon. The state is exploiting legal procedures in order to compel residents of the unrecognized Arab Bedouin villages in the Naqab to evacuate their homes and villages and to relocate to government-planned towns.

Several days before the Eid el-Fitr holiday, Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel living in the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hieran in the Naqab (Negev) learned that the police were preparing to demolish six homes in the village based on a demand by the Interior Ministry's monitoring unit for building in the south. Representatives of the Abu-Qian family contacted the police and the Interior Ministry in order to obtain details regarding the demolition orders. However, a representative of the Ministry refused to provide any information, claiming that he did not know that they are the owners of the houses.

On 22 October 2006, Adalah, on behalf of the families, filed a motion to the Beer el-Sabe Magistrate Court against the state, demanding a delay in the implementation of the demolition orders as well as their cancellation. Representing the families, Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara argued in the motion that the refusal of the authorities to provide any information to the affected families violates the families' right to due process and opportunity to be heard.
More at above....