The government advanced the discriminatory policy against the Bedouin residents in the Negev by approving on Sunday, November 22, the establishment of five new settlements in the region. An investigation by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights found that two of the settlements are to be established on sites where Arab-Bedouin villages already exist. This decision means that thousands of people will be evacuated from their homes in order to establish settlements for Jewish communities. The settlement of Daya is to be built on the unrecognized village of Katamat, which is home to 1,500 persons and the Neve Gurion settlement is to be established on part of the land of the recognized village of Beer Hadaj, home to with approximately 6,000 residents.
ACRI and Bimkom are opposed to the government’s plan, which will have adverse impacts economically, socially and environmentally on all settlements in the Negev desert – whether they are Arab, Jewish, recognized or unrecognized – and will be especially harmful for the Bedouin community. The state has refused to recognize the Bedouin villages in the Negev for decades, and has now decided to establish Jewish settlements in their place. This decision is a mere continuation of the government’s unequal planning policy, which attempts to move the inhabitants of Bedouin villages to urban or semi-urban settlements or existing townships, which are ranked at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and are already under significant stress.
At the same time, the state is authorizing the establishment of more and more small communities designated for Jews. Instead of providing a proper and just solution for the Negev Bedouin, this plan has aggravated the situation and discriminates against the Bedouin community in violation of their rights to equality, dignity and shelter.
The Israeli government has cracked down on Palestinian-Arabs in Israel, according to Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen, from the Joint List electoral coalition. “The idea is to delegitimize our political role in Israeli politics [which] serves Netanyahu to go ahead with his discriminatory policy against the Arab community in Israel, such as the demolition of these villages,” Jabareen said. “This is part of an ongoing policy of pushing Arab-Palestinian Bedouins off their land in the Negev,” Sana Ibn Bari, a lawyer for ACRI, said.
