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One targeted village is Atir-Umm al-Hieran, lying 50 km north of Avdat. It was established in 1956 by authorization of the military government under which Israeli Arabs were governed at the time. Today its 1,000 residents have no other home, yet are faced with eviction, a process that began in early 2004 when they got letters demanding their evacuation, followed by state requested demolition orders.
In lawsuits to the Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court, its residents were called "intruders (and) trespassers" without citing why they should be evicted.
In August 2009, the Court accepted two eviction claims, ordered the affected families from their homes, and began a process of removing dozens more, perhaps all 1,000 before completed.
On October 21, Adalah appealed, presenting numerous claims, the central one being that the Court:
"should have rejected the eviction orders when it was established that the villagers were not invaders, but had, in fact, been living in the village after they were ordered by the state to move there in the 1950s. Since the state did not (cite) any public interest (to evict them), other considerations should have been brought to bear, which can be summed up in one word: justice."
Atir-Umm al-Hieran residents have lived there for over 50 years, were authorized to do so by the military government, have invested in their properties and lives ever since, and have a legal right to retain what they own and developed.
During Court proceedings, it was learned that Israel wants their land for a new Jewish community, named Hiran, which, of course, will be exclusively for Jews.
Israel's Goldberg Committee considered an early 2008 submission by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) under the provisions of Cabinet Resolution No. 2491, dated October 28, 2007, that states:
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