‘We will only be moved as bodies’: Israel and Bedouins face off in the Negev – Middle East Eye
Posted By admin on January 20, 2020
Mohammad Danfiri stands at the edge of his Bedouin familys sheep enclosure in the Negev Desert, looking out at a pair of cell phone towers at the top of a nearby hill. They are situated in an open spot between one end of his village and the other - an area, he explains, where an extension of Israels major eastern highway will be built.
A row of houses stands about 60 metres from the towers, where highway plans have been approved. But the Israeli government is advancing plans to evict not only the residents closest to the planned road.
The entire 5,000-person village - and many surrounding ones - will be placed in temporary housing units under the governments plan, severely limiting their ability to herd sheep and develop agriculture, the primary means of employment in Bedouin communities.
'It's not going to happen A project like this would erase the Bedouin culture and heritage'
-Mohammad Danfiri
Danfiri is one of at least 36,000 Bedouins in Israels Negev (known in Arabic as the Naqab) facing eviction due to a host of projects like the highway expansion.
In order to implement these development plans put forth by government bodies, the Israeli military, private companies and non-profit groups, Israels Bedouin Development Authority - the governmental body responsible for handling interactions between Bedouins and the state - is aiming to move tens of thousands of people into short-term housing.
Bedouins refer to the temporary housing as caravans, as they are small mobile homes that Israel intends to host whole families. In October, an Israeli district planning committee began to deliberate on whether to approve these transfer plans.
The residents facing displacement live in villages the government deems unrecognised, though most have lived on or near the land since the country was established in 1948. During the past 50 years, Israel has attempted to move Bedouins into recognised communities, repeatedly arguing that those in unrecognised areas have no claim to the land.
Unrecognised villages are denied any infrastructure or support from the government. There are no means of transportation, no roads, no schools, and Israeli authorities dont accept or negotiate with their local leadership.
As a result, the communities live a bare-bones life in a harsh terrain. Many herd sheep to sell meat products.Some are able to get work at nearby Israeli companies.
Danfiri, 47, remembers growing up in the village with the only water source being a well that collected rainwater. He and his friends would bring up the water, and his mother would use her scarf to drain out the dirt. On Fridays, adults would hook up a television to a car battery to watch cartoons and Egyptian movies.
"Kids today have everything, Danfiri says, referring to the solar panels that are now built on top of many Bedouin houses. Fridges, internet, everything is available on the spot."
Danfiri said in order to protect the lifestyle of his community, Bedouins will reject the governments transfer plans. If they absolutely have to move, he says, theyll shun the caravans and stay as close to their original homes as possible even if thats right next to a construction site.
"We're not moving, we're going to fight it, he says. It's not going to happen A project like this would erase the Bedouin culture and heritage."
For a community that defines itself around a traditional, agriculture-based lifestyle, the planned evictions are seen as the latest move in a decades-long government campaign to concentrate them into specific areas. For people like Danfiri, that means giving up part of their identity.
Everywhere I go, the thing I'm most proud of is being Bedouin. Specifically in the unrecognised villages, Bedouins much more preserve traditional culture, he says.
Adalah, a Haifa-based NGO that focuses on legal rights for Arabs in Israel, opposes the plans on multiple grounds. For one thing, the organisation argues, the planned housing units arent fit for occupancy under the law because they dont have adequate infrastructure and spacial standards.
'To us it means they have no solution for the people they are planning to evict'
-Myssana Morany, Adalahattorney
The NGO also published a white paper last month arguing that the plans constituted a separate but equal approach to Israeli citizens in the Negev.
One system relies on a planning network that works for the benefit, well-beingand future development of Israeli Jewish citizens and communities, and places the Israeli Jewish citizen at the centre of the process, it wrote.
The second system relies on a planning network that seeks displacement and transfer of Bedouin citizens to temporary housing, and subordinates the entire Palestinian Bedouin population to an oppressive reality without their consultation.
Adalah also argues that the plan will increase poverty among Bedouins who are evicted and those who live in the communities where the camps will be built, because it can harm both groups access to work.
Myssana Morany, an attorney with Adalah, says its not clear how quickly the plans will be carried out and how many people will be moved in the end. Because the governments wording was vague in the plans they filed, she says, it reveals a broader plan that could affect up to 80,000 people. Similarly, the lack of a specific number of housing units means the government can evict as many people as it would like to.
To us it means they have no solution for the people they are planning to evict, Morany says.
Hussein El Rafaiya, a 58-year-old from an unrecognised village called Birh Hamam, served as the head of a council that represents the unrecognised villages from 2002 to 2007. Israel doesnt recognise the councils authority and doesnt negotiate with it.
Rafaiya pointed to historical examples of Israeli pressure on Bedouin communities to force them away from their homes, like decades of home demolitions and evictions by the government.
We have no possibility of addressing the situation through the courts or the laws, Rafaiya says, explaining that Israeli law simply doesnt recognise Bedouin claims to the land or housing.
This is not the behaviour of a state: it's criminal behaviour All these efforts weren't effective enough in the eyes of the Bedouin Authority, so they decided to create these temporary displacement camps.
In early 2020, Israels southern district planning committee will decide whether to move forward. The governments two temporary housing plans emphasise the need to urgently evict Bedouins on the basis of development projects. In the eyes of human rights groups, its a way to come up with a fast but ineffective legal solution in order to evict people.
In recent years, the Israeli military has moved bases to the Negev in an effort to expand the military and industrial presence there, and as a way to increase the population. The government has also invested resources into helping the souths largest city, Beer Sheba, rebrand itself as a hub for technology and entrepreneurship.
The Negev has become a home to a wide range of projects, including solar farms, power plants, greenhouses and other industrialisation efforts. The government has expressed interest in supporting the cultivation of medical marijuana crops, manufacturing and cyber defence, all through the use of grants and subsidies.
The idea, according to the states Ministry of Economy, is to compete with Silicon Valley.
One of the key players in this process is the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a US- and Jerusalem-based organisation that is granted special governmental authorities by the Israeli government to purchase and develop land for Jewish settlement.
It oversees many projects across the region, often clearing massive expanses of land to build forests. Some unrecognised Bedouin communities are in areas marked for eviction due to JNF projects.
Palestinian Bedouin in the Jordan Valley caught between Israeli army and settlers
On the JNFs website introducing its Negev blueprint, it outlines a plan to settle 500,000 people from elsewhere in the region.
The Negev Desert represents 60 percent of Israels landmass but is home to just 8 percent of the countrys population, it wrote. And in those lopsided numbers, we see an unprecedented opportunity for growth.
The JNFs Blueprint Negev plan features a prominent priority to support Bedouin communities in the region, but it only lists partnerships with recognised Bedouin towns.
A JNF spokesperson did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Thabet Abu Rass, the co-director of Abraham Initiatives, an NGO focused on political rights in Israel, said he disagreed with the governments plan primarily because it doesnt take into account any of the Bedouin communitys needs.
Its a different terminology of uprooting people. The problem here is uprooting people, Rass said.
The government of Israel is investing a lot of money in planning. In one point, its good to plan for people, but on another point, its not good to plan against their will the Bedouins have nothing to say about it.
'Israel is defining itself as a Jewish state, and its important for them to control more and more land'
- Thabet Abu Rass, co-director of Abraham Initiatives
Rass recalled multiple instances where the Israeli government has made plans for the Negev without consulting the Bedouins, and without accepting or even addressing their claims to land.
The issue of land in Israel is ideologically motivated, Rass said. Israel is defining itself as a Jewish state, and its important for them to control more and more land.
For Rafaiya, the plans are simply unacceptable. Bedouins from recognised communities wont move, he said.
This plan is a disaster for us, Rafaiya says. The state can come and demolish houses and communities. But we will only be moved as bodies, we will be buried on our land."
Visit link:
'We will only be moved as bodies': Israel and Bedouins face off in the Negev - Middle East Eye
- Mike Colle Statement re Jewish Heritage Month 4 10 14 - Video [Last Updated On: April 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2014]
- Israel Independence Day 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2014]
- BOL Celebrates Jewish Heritage Month 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2014]
- Jewish Heritage Month : CUPE Local 79 [Last Updated On: October 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 6th, 2014]
- Rangel Honors Jewish American Heritage Month | Congressman ... [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2015]
- Why Does No One Care About Jewish Heritage Month ... [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2015]
- Jewish Heritage Month [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2015] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2015]
- Why Did Canada Nix Jewish Heritage Month? - Opinion ... [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2015] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2015]
- Video: The Holocaust | Watch The War Online | PBS Video [Last Updated On: October 28th, 2015] [Originally Added On: October 28th, 2015]
- Jewish Heritage Month -- National Register of Historic ... [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2016] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2016]
- How May became Jewish American Heritage Month - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: May 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 15th, 2017]
- May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Here's why you didn't know that. - Jewish Post [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Did you know that May is Jewish American Heritage Month ... - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2017]
- The case for Jewish Heritage Month - Canadian Jewish News (blog) [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2017]
- Palestinians Launch Fresh UNESCO Bid to Deny Jewish Ties to ... - Algemeiner [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2017]
- A trove of Nazi-era objects in Argentina stuns investigators - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2017]
- Given that June is both Gay Pride and Immigrant Heritage Month, it's fitting that the Tenement Museum last week ... - Tablet Magazine [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2017]
- Ontario Jewish Heritage Month Calendar | UJA Federation of ... [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2017]
- A French Jew's killing provides a test for the new Macron administration - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2017]
- Fun Shabbats planned at Congregation Beth Am this summer - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2017]
- My special-needs daughter's tallit is her superhero cape - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2017]
- Citrus Club 'Happy Hour' unites support for Jewish Pavilion - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2017]
- Higher health risks for Israeli Ethiopian immigrants - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: June 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 25th, 2017]
- WATCH: Indian Jews bring Bollywood flair to Jerusalem - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: June 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 25th, 2017]
- The 'reward' of every Temple Mount rioter: 4,500 shekels a month ... - Arutz Sheva [Last Updated On: June 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 25th, 2017]
- Women and Tales in Jerusalem Jewish Orthodox style - eTurboNews [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- More Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage Than Ever - Reason (blog) [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- Israel's Western Wall Crisis: Why Jews Are Fighting With Each Other Over the Jewish Holy Site, Explained - Haaretz [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- News Transcript Datebook, June 28 - centraljersey.com [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- Bringing People Together in Montgomery County - Virginia Connection Newspapers [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- Corsicana receives $25k grant to maintain Temple Beth-El - Corsicana Daily Sun [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- Housefather celebrates Jewish Canadian contributions - The Suburban Newspaper [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2017]
- What's Goin On July | SD JEWISH JOURNAL - San Diego Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- Palestinians Hope to List Hebron As UNESCO World Heritage Site - The Media Line [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- A trove of Nazi-era objects in Argentina stuns investigators - thejewishchronicle.net [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- How Jewish women have shaped our nation - Canadian Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- Building in Beachwood | Destination | clevelandjewishnews.com - Cleveland Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- Tidbits from the Sandwich Generation - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- International Jewish athletes 'return' to Jerusalem for 20th Maccabiah Games - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- New and improved Jewish tradition - Heritage Florida Jewish News - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- Over 200 North Americans become Israelis as first aliya flight of the summer arrives - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2017]
- The Secret Jewish History Of A Violent New Zealand Cult - Forward [Last Updated On: July 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 6th, 2017]
- Clayton native re-engineers Sriracha sauce - St. Louis Jewish Light [Last Updated On: July 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 6th, 2017]
- Hungarian Jews ask PM Orban to end 'bad dream' of antisemitism - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: July 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 6th, 2017]
- 'PM's gifts from Kerala to his Israeli counterpart reflect our Jewish heritage' - Times of India [Last Updated On: July 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 6th, 2017]
- Kochi jews in israel seek a monumental protection- The New Indian ... - The New Indian Express [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2017]
- Days out while school's out - Jewish Chronicle [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2017]
- Is Hungary's anti-Soros campaign antisemitic? Even Israelis can't ... - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2017]
- After UNESCO vote, Netanyahu reads from Bible to prove Jewish ties to Hebron - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2017]
- After UNESCO Vote, Netanyahu Reads From Bible To Prove Jewish Ties To Hebron - Jewish Week [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2017]
- Anti-Soros Campaign In Hungary Dogging Bibi's Trip - Jewish Week [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2017]
- This 2016 Donald Trump Jr. interview about Russia is now downright cringeworthy - Washington Post [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2017]
- Belated Bar Mitzvahs for Five College Students in Vienna - Chabad.org [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2017]
- How a Portuguese King Found Solace in the Psalms of His Ancestors - Chabad.org [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2017]
- How a Korean-Jewish entrepreneur uses food to empower immigrants - Jewish Post [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2017]
- How Gaza's electricity crisis could spell trouble for Israel - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2017]
- Knesset bloc unveils peace plan: Total Palestinian surrender - jewishpresstampa [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2017]
- Hungarian PM to Netanyahu: We Cooperated With Nazis Instead of Protecting Jews, Won't Happen Again - Haaretz [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2017]
- First Read For July 18 - Jewish Week [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2017]
- Albany Beat - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2017]
- Calendar July 21, 2017 - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2017]
- Leah Koenig - Tablet Magazine [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2017]
- Group travels to Israel to connect with Jewish heritage - Florida Times-Union [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2017]
- 5 students celebrate belated bar mitzvah - Arutz Sheva [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2017]
- Holocaust Rhymes And Lamborghinis, A Jewish Rapper Breaks Taboos In Germany - Worldcrunch [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2017]
- Cool off with Shabbat Sababa at Ohev Shalom - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2017]
- At least 15 Jewish families move into disputed West Bank building - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2017]
- A new generation of Jewish farmers sees a fertile future in South Jersey - Philly.com [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2017]
- At 30, YJLC Rafting Weekend Now Competing with Technology - Jewish Exponent [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2017]
- Begin breaks ranks to oppose Jewish nation-state bill | The Times of ... - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2017]
- Anti-Semitism Claims Hound Party Led by Darling of U.K. Left - 41 NBC News [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2017]
- In trip to Lodz, Poland, East Bay group sees dark past, hopeful future - Jweekly.com [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2017]
- Scene Around - Heritage Florida Jewish News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2017]
- "Shared struggles" forum to tackle faiths' differences, similarities - Charleston Post Courier [Last Updated On: July 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 30th, 2017]
- Temple Mount or Haram Al-Sharif? We've been here before - i24NEWS [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2017]
- Around Newton - Wicked Local Newton [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2017]
- SlutWalk Chicago, in reversal, will allow marchers carrying Jewish and Zionist symbols - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2017]
- Cave Of Dreams - Jewish Week [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2017]
- Grapevine: When age doesn't matter - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2017]
- SlutWalk Chicago, In Reversal, Will Allow Marchers Carrying Jewish ... - Jewish Week [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2017]
Comments