At this moment the Israeli government is plowing the crops, in order to destroy them, of Bedouins in the Negev. 500 dunams (120 acres) of Halil al-Zarqan’s lands, of the small village Al-Mazraa in the Eastern Negev are being destroyed this morning by governmental tractors. Israel does not recognize the traditional ownership of its Bedouin citizens over land in the Negev. Since 1948, Israel has used one method or another to confiscate 98 percent of the lands that were owned and used by the Bedouins prior to the establishment of the State. Now the government is battling its poorest citizens over the last 2 percent of their traditional lands. Read more about Israeli authorities destroy crops of Bedouin citizens
On Tuesday, January 9th, Israeli forces entered the Bedouin village of Twail Abu Jarwal in the Northern Negev for the fifth time, in order to demolish it. Large police forces, with the aid of special-task forces and with the aerial help of a helicopter and two bulldozers, demolished the entire village. Twenty-one homes, shacks, brick rooms, and tents were destroyed. During the last battle Israel waged against the residents of this village, on 6 December 2006, Israeli forces demolished 17 homes - more than half the village. But the villagers managed to rebuild roofs over their heads to protect them from the harsh Negev winter weather. Read more about Israel destroys Negev Bedouin village for second time
At 5:00 am hundreds of police accompanied six bulldozers and demolished 17 homes and three animal shacks in the village of Twail Abu-Jarwal. The entire village is demolished. People are sitting by the piles of tin that were their modest dwellings and wondering what to do, where to go - even their family cannot host them, as no one has a house standing. This is the fourth time this year that the government demolished in this village. This time they got it “right” - no house is left standing. But the villagers have nowhere to go to. Read more about Israel demolishes entire Bedouin village in the Negev
The Israeli Government’s Six-Year Plan for the Negev, signed early in 2003, proposes to destroy dozens of unrecognized Bedouin villages, and to concentrate the 75,000 residents thus displaced into seven planned settlements. The plan was prepared and signed without any participation of the Bedouin communities of the Negev, and goes against their needs, rights and traditional way of life. “Together Forum” members are struggling to stop this plan and to establish a new alternative plan with full cooperation by the Bedouins in order to serve the needs of all the Negev residents — Bedouins and Jews together. Read more about A unique kind of protest: Arabs and Jews defend Bedouins' rights in the Negev
On 3 March 2003, without prior warning, two airplanes belonging to the Israel Lands Administration (ILA), accompanied by a large number of police forces and Green “Black” Patrol members, sprayed toxic chemicals on houses and on more than 2,000 dunams (500 acres) of crops belonging to the residents of Abda, an unrecognized village in the Negev. Read more about Poisoning Palestinian bedouins land in unrecognized village Abda
“The State of Israel today perpetrated an act of enmity against a mosque considered holy by Muslims. This act runs contrary to all international treaties which uphold the right to freedom of religion. The demolition inflamed the feelings of our people because it is the first time that the State has demolished a mosque in the Negev.” The Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages of the Palestinian Bedouin in the Negev condemns the demolition of a mosque in the unrecognized village of Tel Al-Mileh, and warns it is just the beginning of Ariel Sharon’s plan to Judaize the Negev. Read more about Mosque destroyed in Israel as Ariel Sharon's Judaization project for the Negev begins
