Knesset members from the National Union party are planning to visit a number of illegal Bedouin villages in the Negev tomorrow, in order to dramatize the extent of the government’s double standard in relation to Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria.
The town of Amona, 15 miles north of Jerusalem, was destroyed by government bulldozers last week on the grounds that the community was set up illegally.
The alleged illegality of Amona was affirmed by the Israeli Supreme Court, on the basis of a petition submitted by the Peace Now, a group dedicated to removing Jewish communities from Judea and Samaria.
National Union Knesset members said they will be turning to the High Court with a petition demanding the court to order the government to enforce demolition orders already issued against hundreds of structures illegally built by Bedouin Arabs in the Negev.
The mayor of Omer (a Jewish community north of Beersheva), Pinni Badash, will lead the group of MK’s on their field trip.
A party spokesman said, “The Olmert government is rushing to uproot Jews and destroy their homes by claiming that they built an unauthorized community, calling them law breakers. On the other hand, hundreds of houses and dozens of villages in the Negev were illegally built by Bedouin Arabs. This has occurred over a period of years, as they make threats against the state and vagrantly flout the law, yet nobody makes an effort to remove them.”
A council of illegal Bedouin communities has already issued threats against those who demand law enforcement against the illegal construction, calling it a “provocation” which they blamed on the “Israeli establishment.”
Council head, Hussein Al-Refay’a said the National Union party “should be disqualified for running for the Knesset and be outlawed."
Baruch Marzel, head of the Jewish National Front party, said that the phenomena of illegal construction in the Arab sector is also prevalent in the Galilee region. He cited the city of Sakhnin, where residents recently rioted against Jewish spectators who came to the town to root for a Jerusalem soccer team that played a match against a local club.
“Sakhnin is a combination of people who steal state land and riot” against Jewish soccer fans, said Marzel. “I want to understand why they receive such preferential treatment from the legal authorities, while we are treated with violence and brutality.”
Marzel claims that hundreds of Arabs have built homes illegally on state land in the Galilee. He said he intends to petition the High Court to compel the state to enforce the law against the trespassers and order their homes demolished.
The town of Amona, 15 miles north of Jerusalem, was destroyed by government bulldozers last week on the grounds that the community was set up illegally.
The alleged illegality of Amona was affirmed by the Israeli Supreme Court, on the basis of a petition submitted by the Peace Now, a group dedicated to removing Jewish communities from Judea and Samaria.
National Union Knesset members said they will be turning to the High Court with a petition demanding the court to order the government to enforce demolition orders already issued against hundreds of structures illegally built by Bedouin Arabs in the Negev.
The mayor of Omer (a Jewish community north of Beersheva), Pinni Badash, will lead the group of MK’s on their field trip.
A party spokesman said, “The Olmert government is rushing to uproot Jews and destroy their homes by claiming that they built an unauthorized community, calling them law breakers. On the other hand, hundreds of houses and dozens of villages in the Negev were illegally built by Bedouin Arabs. This has occurred over a period of years, as they make threats against the state and vagrantly flout the law, yet nobody makes an effort to remove them.”
A council of illegal Bedouin communities has already issued threats against those who demand law enforcement against the illegal construction, calling it a “provocation” which they blamed on the “Israeli establishment.”
Council head, Hussein Al-Refay’a said the National Union party “should be disqualified for running for the Knesset and be outlawed."
Baruch Marzel, head of the Jewish National Front party, said that the phenomena of illegal construction in the Arab sector is also prevalent in the Galilee region. He cited the city of Sakhnin, where residents recently rioted against Jewish spectators who came to the town to root for a Jerusalem soccer team that played a match against a local club.
“Sakhnin is a combination of people who steal state land and riot” against Jewish soccer fans, said Marzel. “I want to understand why they receive such preferential treatment from the legal authorities, while we are treated with violence and brutality.”
Marzel claims that hundreds of Arabs have built homes illegally on state land in the Galilee. He said he intends to petition the High Court to compel the state to enforce the law against the trespassers and order their homes demolished.