Al-Sana calls for international protection for Negev Bedouins

MEMO EXCLUSIVE

Last week, the Bedouin village of al-Arakib in the Negev was completely razed during a brutal surprise dawn raid by Israel Land Administration workers supported by thousands of black clad Israeli special unit forces, police officers and aerial units. Dr. Awad Abu-Farikh, a resident of Al-Arakib and a spokesman for the village said “We were stunned to witness the violent force being used.” All 45 homes in the village were completely destroyed.

Since then, the resilient inhabitants of the village have managed to construct 10 new structures on the ruins of their former homes. However, yesterday Israel Land Administration workers returned to the site and tore down the homes once again.

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Yesterday’s brutal action was met by demonstrations and resistance from the now homeless villagers joined by Israeli Knesset member, Talab al-Sana, who barricaded himself inside one of the houses. Al-Sana was attacked by the police and forcefully removed from the house; he sustained injury and lost consciousness having to be evacuated to Beersheba Soroko Medical Centre. The police also arrested 6 individuals; five are considered ‘serial invaders’ while the sixth is suspected of assault on the police.

Since yesterday’s events, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) has been in touch with Mr. Al-Sana who was in London as its guest during the first assault on al-Arakib and was able to give a graphic and detailed account of the situation facing the Bedouin of the Negev during an address in the Houses of parliament. He and his colleagues spoke about the Israeli campaign to persecute and intimidate Arab Israelis and to criminalise their political activities by delegitimising their democratically elected representatives.

According Mr. al-Sana who is of Bedouin origin, during yesterday’s indiscriminate and cruel assault, the police not only attacked him but also several women and children. He said that the destruction of al-Arakib village was not a question of law, but of Israel relating to its Arab citizens as enemies and being driven by the ideological motive of ‘redeeming the land’ from the hands of Arabs. He stressed that these current Israeli actions are in violation of all international laws and conventions including human rights laws. Given that during war time situations, the destruction of civilian homes is forbidden; that the Bedouin are not at war with Israel but citizens of the state makes the destruction of their homes a particularly heinous violation of law. The situation highlights Israel’s scant regard for human rights, and in particular, the rights of the Bedouin.

Al-Sana warned that if this is allowed to continue, we could soon see the expulsion of the 100,000 Bedouins of the Negev and that the next twelve months were crucial in determining the outcome of the standoff. This assessment was supported by the spokesman for al-Arakib village, Dr. Awad Abu-Farikh who asserted that “This operation is the first step in the uprooting of many villages. We shall return to our villages, build our homes and not leave this place”

Mr. Al-Sana, a vocal human rights activist and advocate for the Bedouin of the Negev, now intends to write to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon and to the Human Rights Council to request protection from Israeli human rights abuses. He also expressed appreciation for the support given to their community by the international community and looked forward to its continuation.

The Bedouin of the Negev are a particularly vulnerable community in Israel and more so since it has stepped up its efforts to ‘judaise’ the area through the Blueprint Negev plan and thus empty it of its indigenous inhabitants. Despite that their villages pre-date the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, under Israeli law they are ‘unrecognised’ and therefore considered illegal settlements. There are approximately 45 such villages in the Negev which are not marked on commercial maps and are considered ineligible for municipal services such as electricity and water and are exposed to numerous environmental hazard. All these villages are now under imminent threat of destruction.