Several thousand Arabs and Jews, among them Arab-Bedouins from the Negev, demonstrated on Sunday outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, protesting over a plan they say will displace tens of thousands of people from their land.

Most of the demonstrators came from Arab-Bedouin communities across Israel, gathering outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office holding signs reading “We are staying here” and “No to the Praver Plan.”

Bedouin demonstration in Jerusalem (Photo: Al Ittihad)

The plan, approved by the government in September, is supposed to address the problem of un-recognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert of southern Israel. In October, several thousand Bedouin joined a similar demonstration in Beer-Sheva, with Bedouin villages and towns observing a general strike. The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which represents Arab communities in Israel, has described the so-called Praver initiative as a disaster which would have dangerous consequences.

Because the Praver initiative, Arab-Palestinians in Israel went on strike Sunday in protest against a plan to forcibly evict Bedouin communities in the Negev. Schools and businesses closed for the day.