On Monday heavily armed Israeli soldiers arrived in the Palestinian Bedouin village of Humsa. They used a bulldozer, manufactured by British company JCB, to flatten people’s tents and possessions while the villagers looked on.
This was the third time in just one week that soldiers had come to demolish homes in Humsa. The demolitions are part of a colonial policy, aimed at stealing Palestinian land.
Aisha, one of the residents of Humsa told journalists from Middle East Eye:
“The community has become rubble. The Israeli army came and destroyed all of our homes and tents. We are now in the open, between the grounds and the sky.”
“…We have no alternative but to remain here on our land. They will continue to demolish and we will continue to build and remain steadfast here.”
The Canary also spoke to Palestinian activist Jamal Jumaa. He told us:
The destruction of Humsa community in north of Jordan Valley by the Israeli occupation forces is part of an ethnic cleansing plan targeting Palestinian communities this is a crime against poor people, who [have been] living on their land hundreds of years, destroying their future, terrifying them. And for those companies [whose] bulldozers are used for the destruction of these communities, I’m telling them, ‘shame on you’.
JCB is owned by the Bamfords, one of the wealthiest families in the UK. The company is currently facing an investigation over the use of JCB machines in home demolitions.
We asked Jamal how we should respond to these demolitions. And what action ordinary people could take against companies like JCB. Here’s what he said.
We should gather our efforts to boycott them, to isolate them, and to tell them: ‘what you are doing is violating international law; what you are doing is horrible. It’s crimes against humanity used by this criminal state’.
JCB has been told time and time again that their equipment is being used in Israel’s home demolitions. It’s time for JCB’s directors to distance themselves from state sanctioned racism, and to prevent JCB equipment being used by the Israeli army.
