Ramallah, October 17 (RHC)-- Palestinians have gathered in the Negev desert in protest to Israel's destruction of homes in Bedouin towns in the region.  During the Sunday protests, Palestinians sported banners condemning the Tel Avia regime's continued destruction of Bedouin homes, labeling it a racist policy. 

Over the past few weeks, Israeli bulldozers have razed dozens of homes in Bir Hadaj region, displacing their inhabitants.  Several human rights groups have condemned such illegal activities, saying that they are aimed at uprooting indigenous Palestinians to make room for Israel's unlawful settlement activities. 

Last week, Israeli forces demolished eight more Palestinian houses in the village of Khan al-Ahmar, leaving 28 Palestinians, including 18 minors, homeless.  More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.  The Palestinian Authority wants the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinians state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.