This is the story of the first dramatic demolition in Al Araqib in 2010 that began the never-ending nightmare of this community. Aziz Al Turi reconstructs this horrific experience as if it happened yesterday.
Night and day 27/7/2010 People in solidarity with the village of Al-Araqib. Many of them are at the gate, some are walking around between the houses. The villagers are waiting in the hope that the same judge who issued a decision on July 26, 2010 in favor of the village and rejected the state’s request to demolish the village. He will reiterate his decision at the rehearing
.Suddenly, a phone rings, I answer, the judge reversed the decision and approved a demolition order for the village
.People call: There are police forces around the village
Another person calls: “Aziz is full of police forces in the plaza near Lehavim” The third calls: “I saw a lot of police vehicles before the northern entrance to Beersheba
?Then the demolition notice rolls among the villagers. What do we do? How can the demolition be prevented
Very difficult questions, the youths and the villagers raged. Huge anger in the village. I walk around among the groups of people. A lot of journalists come, broadcast properties to the village’s homes, take pictures, ask questions to the homeowners. What to do? No answer Suddenly, I see smoke from fires, young people burning wooden pallets. Wheels. Straw packs. Another part of the people from the neighbors takes away our flocks, a huge fear that the police will confiscate the herds , another part of the residents empties the house of their belongings. My 80-year-old aunt insists, I’m not going out From home she said
The clock is ticking and at 4:00 A.M., a lot of police vehicles enter the village from Route 40. Some are parked close to our houses. And some of the vehicles pass us to the other compound of the village. Descending policemen shoot lighting over the village sky. The darkness of the night turns into day from most of the lighting, the commanders call through the loudspeaker not to move. Anyone who moves, risking their life, they say. Police officers approach homes. Masked men were the policemen. On their shirts only numbers were 567. 390 and the like. We hear shouting from inside the houses.
Residents refuse to leave their homes. Police force them out from every direction, they hear screams and shouts. Children’s crying… It was shocking. Time is pounding and the sun is shining.
destroying everything: the trees, The chicken coops and pigeons also destroyed and killed many of them. There was a real war zone,
The leaders of the Arab High Follow-Up Committee Israel Arab and Jewish Knesset members arrive, they all call the destruction. The broadcasters of most of the channels arrived and each team broadcasts to the world what is happening in the village
There was a quick decision: Don’t leave the village. We continue to live in the village. Building the houses
They live among the piles of destroyed houses, among the trees that uprooted them. The pigeons did not leave, remained on the ruins of the houses
many delegations of Knesset members and parliamentarians from Israel and around the world came, and they all defended. And the bulldozer, police forces and inspectors come to the village and destroy them every time. And we build. Destroying again and we build. To date, the village has been destroyed 229 times
, لن نتخلى عن العراقيب ما دمنا احرارا على قيد الحياة.
We will not give up
عزيز صياح الطوري.
قرية العراقيب.
Demolition in Al Araqib, Negev Desert, Israel, 10.8.2010
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