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A group of Palestinian schoolchildren in the occupied West Bank visited the Israeli president to protest the impending demolition of their village.
Khan al-Ahmar, who has attracted the attention of the international community for his long legal battle with the Israeli authorities for his survival, should be demolished after an Israeli court gave residents of the community up to ## 147 ## October 1st to remove their huts and rudimentary structures.
At least 18 children from the Bedouin village, all aged 12 and under, were accompanied by Jewish-American activists and went to three Israeli licensed cars at President Reuven Rivlin's home in Jerusalem.
They passed the al-Zaeem checkpoint, which separates an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank from a neighborhood located in Occupied East Jerusalem, without incident.
However, the Israeli police prevented them from getting closer to Rivlin's home when they arrived in the West Jerusalem area.
& # 39; We will stay & # 39;
Their sit-in on Thursday coincided with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Rivlin, where she had lunch with the president. His official visit to Israel comes after a lapse of a year and a half due to disagreements over Israel 's settlement policy.
On Tuesday, Khan al-Ahmar's children held a press conference calling Merkel to help stop the planned deportation.
"I have spent all my life in Khan al-Ahmar," Al Jazeera told Sujood Muhammad Jahalin, 12.
"If I go, my heart will remain attached to it and I will not be happy anywhere else, my heart loves this place," she said.
With US-Jewish activists, the children were instructed to stay in an area about 100 meters from the residence.
They sported signs bearing the inscription "Save Our School" referring to the only school in their area, built from mud and tires.
"We will not listen to the Israelis, we will rebuild [our homes]and if they demolish school, we will always stay, "said Sujood.
Khan al-Ahmar is located a few kilometers from Jerusalem in Area C, which, according to the agreements of Oslo, is under Israeli civil and security administration and occupies 60% of the West Bank.
In May, the Israeli High Court ruled that the village and its only school would be demolished, claiming that the village had been built without Israeli authorization.
However, Palestinians say building permits are impossible to obtain, unlike the rapid expansion of illegal Israeli settlements reserved for Jews in the same area.
Its location between two large illegal Israeli settlements, Maale Adumim and Kfar Adumim, has been a thorn in the foot of the Israeli government, which wants to expand settlements to build a cluster of settlements around occupied East Jerusalem.
The removal of the Bedouin village would also allow the Israeli government to divide the West Bank in two.
In addition, the demolition of the village would entail the forced displacement of its 180 inhabitants, all belonging to the Jahalin Bedouin tribe.
"If they [the Israeli army] Come, they will send us away and we will have no home or land, "Six-year-old student of Khan al-Ahmar School told Wafa Naser Ahmad Jahalin Al Jazeera.
"We came here today to tell him [Merkel] do not demolish Khan al-Ahmar … they demolish, we will rebuild and remain steadfast on our land, "she said.
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Merkel puts pressure on Israel
In early July, Israeli bulldozers destroyed a number of tents and other structures in Khan al-Ahmar, causing clashes with local residents.
Husam Yousef Abu Dahouk, a grade six student, told Al Jazeera that he had come to Rivlin's home to convey a message to Merkel and the Israelis.
"We want to send a message to the Israelis that they end the decision to demolish Khan al-Ahmar," he said.
"We are asking Merkel to help us in our village," Husam added.
Husam's father, Yousef, told Al Jazeera that children suffer from psychological stresses about the uncertainty of their future.
"Whenever we hear the sound of a car or helicopter in the sky, we worry because we think the army is coming," he said. "It's such a difficult feeling, and children and women do not sleep."
"These children wanted to send a message to Merkel and to the European Union, which supports our village," said the 37-year-old. "I hope that Merkel looks at these children and considers them as other children in the world and is pressuring the occupation to reconsider her decision."
Forced transfer violates international law
The Israeli government plans to move the villagers either to an area near a sewage treatment plant near the Dead Sea, or about 12 km from their home near the Palestinian village of Abu Dhabi. Say, near a landfill site.
Human rights defenders say that a forced transfer of residents would violate international law relating to the occupied territory. In addition, it is feared that their relocation to an urban center will have a devastating effect on the lives of Bedouins, who have their own way of life, with public and private domains defined by gender.
Activist Angela Godfrey, one of the activists who accompanied the students, said: "She [Merkel] can save the school, it does not need to be demolished. "
"People should not have a choice [living near] either garbage or wastewater, "she added.
Additional report by Ibrahim Husseini
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