[News] Israeli forces demolish unrecognized al-Araqib village for 107th time

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Israeli forces demolish unrecognized al-Araqib village for 107th time

Dec. 22, 2016 - http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774556

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NEGEV (Ma'an) --

Israeli forces Thursday demolished the unrecognized al-Araqib Bedouin 
village in the Negev of southern Israel for the 107th time.
According to locals, Israeli bulldozers demolished the village, 
including an arbor used by the al-Hussi family in the nearby Bir Haddaj 
village.

A yard and a tree belonging to the Bin Hmeid family in the Wadi al-Niam 
village and an outdoor toilet were also demolished, locals told Ma’an.

Israeli forces last demolished the village less than a month ago.

An Israeli police spokesperson was not immediately available to comment 
on the demolitions.
Israeli forces began targeting the village with demolitions in 2010, 
along with filing multiple lawsuits against the residents and imposing 
more than 2 million shekels ($527,920) worth of fines.

The first demolition of al-Araqib took place more than six years ago on 
June 27, 2010.
Al-Araqib is one of 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by the 
Israeli state. According to ACRI, more than half of the approximately 
160,000 Negev Bedouins reside in unrecognized villages.

While Bedouins of the Negev are Israeli citizens, the villages 
unrecognized by the government have faced relentless efforts by the 
Israeli authorities to expel them from their lands in order to make room 
for Jewish Israeli homes.

The classification of their villages as “unrecognized” prevents Bedouins 
from developing or expanding their communities, as their villages are 
considered illegal by Israeli authorities.

Israeli authorities have also refused to connect unrecognized Bedouin 
villages to the national water and electricity grids, while excluding 
the communities from access to health and educational services, and 
basic infrastructure.

Rights groups have claimed that the demolition of al-Araqib and other 
unrecognized Bedouin villages is a central Israeli policy aimed at 
removing the indigenous Palestinian population from the Negev and 
transferring them to government-zoned townships to make room for the 
expansion of Jewish Israeli communities.

Indigenous rights groups have also pointed out that the transfer of the 
Bedouins into densely populated townships also removes them from their 
traditional semi-nomadic lifestyles which is dependent on access to a 
wide range of grazing land for their animals.

Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples James 
Anaya released a report on the treatment of the Bedouin in the Negev 
back in 2011, shortly before the Israeli cabinet approved plans to 
relocate some 30,000 Bedouins from 13 unrecognized villages to 
government-approved townships, reporting that Bedouins in the permanent 
townships "rank on the bottom of all social and economic indicators and 
suffer from the highest unemployment rates and income levels in Israel."

The unrecognized Bedouin villages were established in the Negev soon 
after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war following the creation of the state of 
Israel.

Many of the Bedouins were forcibly transferred to the village sites 
during the 17-year period when Palestinians inside Israel were governed 
under Israeli military law, which ended shortly before Israel's military 
takeover of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967.

Now more than 60 years later, the villages have yet to be recognized by 
Israel and live under constant threats of demolition and forcible removal.

Meanwhile, Israeli Jewish communities in the Negev continuously expand, 
with five new Jewish housing plans approved last year. According to an 
investigation undertaken by Israeli rights groups ACRI and Bimkom, two 
of the approved communities are located in areas where unrecognized 
Bedouin villages already exist.
-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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