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<h1 class="title">Israel demolishes Bedouin home in unrecognized
Negev village</h1>
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<div class="stamp">Feb. 18, 2016 <br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=770345">http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=770345</a></small></small></b><br>
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<div class="BodyDiv"> <font face="Helvetica"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">BEERSHEBA
(Ma’an) -- Israeli forces on Thursday demolished a home in
the Bedouin village of Wadi al-Niam in the Negev, locals
said.<br>
<br>
</span></font><font face="Helvetica"><span style="font-size:
11pt; line-height: 150%;">Village resident Rafat abu Ayesh
told Ma’an that the forces along with Israeli excavators
closed the area surrounding the village before tearing down
the home.</span></font><font face="Helvetica"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><br>
<br>
Residents added that Israeli excavators two days prior had
destroyed agricultural crops belonging to the al-Farawna
family in the Bedouin village of Shaqib al-Salam, also
located in the Negev.</span></font><font face="Helvetica"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><br>
<br>
Shaqib al-Salam is one of a number of towns created by the
Israeli government in the Negev in an effort to to
permanently settle nomadic Bedouin communities that lived
across the Negev prior to the establishment of Israel.<br>
<br>
</span></font><font face="Helvetica"><span style="font-size:
11pt; line-height: 150%;">Wadi al-Niam where Thursday’s
demolition was carried out is one of at least 35 Bedouin
communities never recognized by Israel and as a result
denied basic services and rights, despite being citizens of
Israel.</span></font><font face="Helvetica"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Tens of
thousands of Bedouins living in the Negev face ongoing
displacement. While a plan to forcibly resettle the Bedouin
population -- the Prawer Plan -- was shelved in 2014,
Israel’s Habayit Hayehudi party joined Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyhau’s coalition on the condition the
plan was reinstated.</span></font>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-style:
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
line-height: 150%;"><br>
Israeli authorities last summer began plans to build a
Jewish-only town on the land of the Negev village of Umm
al-Hiran, in what Knesset member described as a racist move by
the state.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-style:
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
line-height: 150%;"><br>
While Bedouin villages are often targeted for demolition by
Israeli authorities, demolitions since the start of 2106 have
been largely focused on the occupied West Bank. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-style:
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
line-height: 150%;"><br>
On Thursday, The Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN
Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian
territory, Robert Piper, called on Israel to hault all
demolition orders in the occupied West Bank. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-style:
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-style:
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br>
“The number of demolitions for just the first six weeks of
2016 is greatly alarming,” Piper said. “Over 400
Palestinians have been displaced from their homes –
equivalent to over half the total number of Palestinians
displaced in all of 2015.”</span></div>
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