Palestinian lawyer slams Israel’s conviction to Al-Araqeeb chief

Israel has been increasingly targeting Palestinian houses and lands in Al-Araqeeb Bedouin village and Negev in general, the Palestinian lawyer for the residents of Al-Araqeeb Sana Ibn Bari, warned today.

Bori’s comments came following a ruling issued yesterday by the Magistrate Court in Israel’s Beersheba yesterday, accusing the Bedouin village chief, Sheikh Sayah Al-Turi, of assault on the state properties.

The court is to impose sanctions on Sheikh Al-Turi at the end of the year.

The Palestinian lawyer denounced the Israeli court decision, stressing that the ruling is “an implementation to the Israeli extreme right wing plan to seize the Palestinian land.”

Read More: Israel to remove Palestinian village’s sole water pipe

“We will appeal the ruling,” he added.

The recent new decisions “spark” the Israeli authorities’ desire to prosecute the Palestinian citizens, impose heavy fines on them and demolish their homes.

Al-Araqeeb is one of more than 35 “unrecognised” Bedouin villages across the Negev region. It is considered illegal by Israel owing to a lack of building permits. According to data from Adalah – Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights, 22 families made up of 110 people live in Al-Araqeeb.

Read More: 3,647 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa in August

Around 80,000 Negev Bedouins, who carry Israeli citizenship, reside in “unrecognised” communities which are often denied state services including water, electricity, rubbish pick-up and education facilities, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israell (ACRI).

Rights groups claim that the demolition of unrecognised Bedouin villages is  a central Israel policy aimed at removing the indigenous Palestinian Population from the Negev and transferring them to townships to make room for the expansion of Jewish settlements.