Israel demolishes Bedouin village - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Israel demolishes Bedouin village - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Unrecognized Bedouin Village, Negev, Israel by Paulhrob (flickr)

Al Jazeera reports:

Israeli authorities have demolished the homes of about 300 Bedouins in a village in the southern Negev desert.

Al-Arakib, which had about 40 homes, is one of 45 Bedouin villages not recognised by Israeli authorities.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed the early-morning operation, saying the homes had been "illegally built" and were destroyed in line with a court ruling issued 11 years ago which was never implemented.


Noach said Israeli authorities had first given residents of al-Arakib a notice to evacaute on June 15, but that no action had followed, so the residents began to doubt that the demolition would occur.
But this morning, Israeli police arrived and forced residents to leave their homes within minutes, Noach said.

According to the Negev Co-existence Forum, around half of the 155,000 Bedouins in the Negev - all of whom are Israeli citizens - live in villages that are unrecognised by the government, without municipal services like water and electricity.

Bedouins comprise 25 per cent of the northern Negev's population, but live on only 2 per cent of its land. Nevertheless, this sort of demolition has been occurring with increasing regularity in recent years. Bedouin, who have lived on their land in the Negev since before the establishment of Israel in 1948, are said to be "squatters" who are "endangering state lands" and must be removed, by force if necessary. Their settlements have never been incorporated into any state planning and therefore have been left out of infrastructure and development planning.


According to a 2009 report by the Israeli Health Ministry, Bedouin children suffer more from growth disorders, nutritional deficiencies, and underweight conditions that could cause serious damage. In the first and second grades some 13% of Bedouin children suffer from growth delays, while 17% are underweight.
Over half (56%) of Bedouin infants at the age of six-months-old suffer from anemia, and about a tenth of them have zinc deficiencies. At the average age of 18-months-old 27% of Bedouin children suffer from anemia, while 11.5% lack zinc, 5% lack Vitamin A and 3% have Vitamin E deficiencies. In comparison, various studies conducted in Israel showed that only 10% of Jewish infants suffered from anemia.


Small wonder that the Bedouin are said to be "radicalizing," or at least, becoming much less friendly to the state of Israel. Many sympathize with the growing Islamic Movement in Israel, which preaches non-violent self-reliance and autonomy from Israel. Can the Bedouin be blamed for not playing nice when the rules of the game are stacked against them?