ISRAEL: Bedouin living in unrecognised villages in the Negev desert remain defiant after the cabinet approves a plan to relocate them

Record ID: 397290

  • Title: ISRAEL: Bedouin living in unrecognised villages in the Negev desert remain defiant after the cabinet approves a plan to relocate them
  • Date: 4th October 2011
  • Summary: NEGEV, ISRAEL (RECENT-SEPTEMBER 27, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VIEWS OF UNRECOGNISED BEDOUIN VILLAGES IN NEGEV PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING TOWARDS BEDOUIN VILLAGE BOY WALKING IN VILLAGE CAR DRIVING/ VIEW OF HOUSES OF BEDOUINS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF REGIONAL COUNCIL FOR UNRECOGNISED VILLAGES, SALEM WAKILI, SAYING: "The government (Israel) is trying through this plan t
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8CHMAH8JYQ8Q5CU2B9N1N469R
  • Story Text: The Israeli cabinet last month approved a plan which aims to relocate some 30,000 Arab Bedouin citizens from the desert region of the Negev to towns which are recognised by the government.
    The head of the Regional Council for Unrecognised Villages, Salem Wakili, told Reuters that the Israeli government plans to seize 2,625 acres (approximately 11 million square metres) of Bedouin land, forcing the population to resettle into new industrial townships.
    "The government (Israel) is trying through this plan to confiscate hundreds of thousands of dunums (metres) of what is left from the Arab Negev land, which is approximately 12,750,000 dunums (approximately 13 billion square metres). Today, the Arab Palestinians own only 850,000 dunums (850 million square metres). This plan aims to confiscate approximately 750,000 dunums (750 million square metres) and to relocate more than 240,000 Arab Palestinian citizens to live on over 105,000 dunums (105 million square metres)," he said.
    The Bedouin live a semi-nomadic lifestyle, rearing livestock in the deserts of southern Israel. Many of them live in extreme poverty as most of the villages lack basic services such as water and electricity. The Bedouin say their claim to the Negev precedes the establishment of the state of Israel.
    "We existed here before 1948 and before the creation of the Israeli state. Israel wants to take us off this place where we have lived before the existence of the state of Israel. This village lacks basic resources such as water and electricity," Wasef Abu Khouti, a resident of one of the unrecognised villages, said.
    Rashid Abu Madi, like the rest of the villagers, does not see why he should relocate to a government-approved settlement, far from his ancestral lands.
    "Here we are in temporary housing. We are not allowed to build and they demolish houses. They want us to leave here and we are not ready to leave because this lands is from our grandparents and parents," he told Reuters.
    The Israeli authorities say that Bedouin homes built in the Negev are illegal and were constructed without planning permission. The Bedouin argue that they have lived their nomadic lifestyle in the Negev for thousands of years and that the land belongs to their ancestors.
    About 170,000 Bedouin Arabs live in Israel, according to the Foreign Ministry website. The majority of them live in the Negev. Approximately, 45,000 of Israel's 180,000 Arab Bedouins live in villages that are not recognised by the Israeli state.
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