Police destroy dozens of buildings in unrecognized Bedouin village in Negev
By Jack Khoury and Yair YagnaJuma al-Turi and his family sat for hours yesterday looking with disbelief at the ruins of their unrecognized village of al-Arakib, north of Be'er Sheva. The houses, the storage building and the bird cage were all destroyed, and the olive trees uprooted.
 |
Police evacuating residents of al-Akarib Tuesday. |
| Photo by: Panet.co.il |
The village was destroyed after government officials determined it was built illegally on state land. Israel Police forces destroyed about 35 buildings, said residents. Confrontations broke out between the police and residents, and in the end one woman was arrested and six people were detained. Over 1,500 police came to guard the demolition.
What really bothered al-Turi, though, was the degradation etched in his heart.
"I saw the smiles of the policemen and the inspectors who did it, they simply enjoyed it while the children were left without a home. They made victory signs with their hands after the destruction. It seems they were confused and were certain they were in Lebanon in the war against Hezbollah," he said.
Al-Turi, who made his living importing food for sale in the south, Egypt and Jordan, is among the village's more well-off denizens. To village residents he is a man of the world and a symbol of success. A large number of his friends are Jews who come every once in a while to his house in the village to eat and close deals.
Shai Shalom, a friend of al-Turi's, came yesterday to console him.
"I simply can not believe my eyes, they destroyed all his houses. It is sad, I don't know why they did it," he said.
In the wake of the destruction al-Turi lauded the quick help by the Islamic Movement to donate new tents.
"The Jews destroyed, the Muslims help. See what you've done. You are pushing us directly into the welcoming arms of the Islamic Movement," he said. "These were my grandfather's lands, why does someone want to take them from me? I live here peacefully and quietly and don't bother anyone. It is simply embarrassing. I am a man of peace, I always got along with everyone, but you are pushing us to dangerous directions."
Inspectors from the Israel Lands Administration arrived yesterday morning in al-Arakib along with large numbers of police. The ILA said the evacuation was conducted after many years of legal - and physical - battles against the Aturi tribe. The ILA said it demolished 46 illegal buildings, 11 made of cinderblock and 11 shacks. It also said it uprooted 850 trees that were transferred for replanting elsewhere.
The ILA said the Bedouin invaded the area, which is state land, in 1998 and in 2000 a court order was handed down banning them from entering the area. But the tribe moved in and planted trees. The ILA offered to rent them the land at a price of NIS 2 per dunam, but they refused to pay. The ILA received a court order to evacuate the residents in 2003 and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said they were shocked by the demolition. "Destruction of the village was a brutal act by state authorities against its citizens and residents, which destabilizes the foundations of democracy and human rights," said Rawia Abu Rabia, a lawyer with ACRI.
The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee said yesterday it would rebuild the destroyed homes. In an emergency meeting held in al-Arakib, the committee also decided to establish a fund to help the families, as well as asking the UN and international human rights organizations to look into the matter.
A mass prayer rally will be held at the site on Friday.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
In a modern county there are people who refuse the offer to pay rent, don't pay taxes but still get lots of government benifits and offers of places to live with compensation. I think it is cruel to march in and raze homes, but I don't think Israel is unique in this. And whoever calls it "ethnic cleansing"---this is as farther from the truth than you can imagine.
they will be in charge in the new bi national state and I sure hope they dont hold grudges
Its kind of hard to support Israel when you read of these outrages. If the story is true, it becomes even harder not to demand that the US government sanction Israel. the victim becomes the victimizer. And a new round of hatred is born. thanks for voting for Hamas, . Israel You may well reap what you sow.............. Why didn't you go knock down all those illegal Jewish religious terrorists villages in the land that was promised to the Palestinians. And my impression has been that the Bedouins were anything but terrorists., but..............
Destroying Arab homes baaad, destroying Jewish homes gooood. Stupid sheep.
Isn't it the only Jewish democracy of the Middle east?
why the police dont arrest the settlers? arent they on illegal land too?
yet israel insistson wiping arab villiages off the map
These atrocities are routine and have been for decades. The only difference now is that the civilized world is able to see the truth for themselves and the typical Israeli propaganda and brainwashing campaigns are rendered ineffective.
Israel continues it's terrorism while it tries to put on a mask of peace. Netanyahu is committed to taking Palestinian homes, land and their livelihood. No peace will emanate from Israel without intervention from the world powers.
Israel is in effect becoming the enemy of secular, universal Jewish, Muslim, and Christian born people who believe in the idea of global community and religious wars are a threat to World economies and stability.
The houses, the storage building and the bird cage were all destroyed, and the olive trees uprooted. shame on you israel.
just when i think that israel can't get any more ridiculous, it proves me wrong. apparently only JEWISH trees can live in negev.
They try to side with the shark, hoping others will become pray, but in the end their turn comes and they sold out for nothing. Divide and conquer, Israel did that skillfully.
we the Palestinians have a strong memory, and this will not be forgotten, sooner or later, the tide will turn.
right, you break our laws and kill our people, who shouldn't forgive or forget
This action matches the worst excesses of the apartheid government of South Africa. Apart from turning the Bedouin into terrorist sympathisers it destroys the moral grounds for Israel's existence. I am ashamed that there appears to be no protest at all against this wanton brutality.
That is called terrorism! Or is there”terrorism light", when committed by Israelis, Americans, NATO countries etc and another "terrorism" when committed by extremist Muslims...??? What a hypocritical world this has become!!!
I think I'm gonna build something right in front of your house, I'm a minority so you won't be able to touch me or you'll de-legitimize your state! Ha!
Neil Peasant, this is nothing to do with apartheid, this is law enforcement. They just happen to be arabs so you jump to conclusions. Recently in London protesters who had been encamped across from Parliament for years have finally been evicted - "is this apartheid" is this discrimination against pathetic people?
My local paper yesterday reported that the Police had forcibly moved gypsies out of a local encampment, in the region of Geneva-Lausanne. Are you going to protest ? At least Israel builds permanent homes ffor the Bedouin, which is more than I can say for the Swiss government.
Don't try to ruin our interests with facts and cutting logic! We're trying to undermine the people we hate, darn it!
Jordan have done the same - they've put some of them into wooden huts near to Aqaba. Israel is currrently building 13 new villages in the Negev for the Bedouin, and has spent lots of money for the benefits of this population. Itinerant populations are a problem throughout Europe as well.
They are not an itinerant population, the village has been there for generations. They are farmers on their own land - not itinerants.
I find most of the comments to be biased. Is it only 'illegal' Jewish homes that can be destroyed, but not Arab ones. Were these Bedouin who fled the Hamas takeover of Gaza?
Fake new villages should not be allowed to be set up. shame on you khoury always the same biased journalism-go back to school or meditate and learn truth
even if the administration legal position is right(that would be a long and perhaps untasty digression)-we have on our hands,once evicted,then dispossessed,without alternative or compensation.today all this is accepted.but they need a place to live.for them it'scritically more important than politics.knowing all the facts,surely the state can offer a solution,or have destruction raids every few years.
maybe i'm not understanding the sum the gov't asked in exchange for use of the land, but it sounds very low. i don't care how far it went in the judicial process, this is just an ugly scene no one needs.
"They were my grandfather's lands". Ma'an reported that this case was won by the Bedouins in court, yet the state went ahead anyway. 200 children left homeless, a whole way of life destroyed. I hope Israel eventually pays for this atrocity..
Romans named land Palestine and the British in 1921 gave 80% of the land of Israel to the Arabs. There was no Arab nation there! the romans didn't find Arabs in the Holy land. Israel is Jewish and the Jews only have 17% of their original land. Maggie you are wrong meditate and learn the truth
It STILL enshrines UNGA Res 181
When the British took over Palestine, there was a well established Arab, Christian and Jewish population, the majority being Arab Palestinians. These were mainly descendants of the indigenous people of thousands of years before. Israel destroyed 450 towns and villages in 1948-49, so what you mean is that it tried to wipe Arab presence off the map.
From Canaaniates point of view: There was no JEW nation there either!
There weren't any Jews there in 1921 either, pal. And if you're talking about Solomon's original borders, fat chance. Even the United States wouldn't support Israel if it tried to annex those borders.
Poppycock! Over the last 4000 years of this lands history the Jews are only mentioned to have been in some form of significant control for perhaps 400 years. There were people here before the Jews arrived to wipe them out, people during the relatively short, ignoble time of Hebrew dominance and people after the Jews arrived from Russia et al. There always been others here and they have always been in the majority. Who the hell are you to claim this as your homeland and disenfranchise others? Oh, that's right, you're Zionists who've had some wacky dream. Pity the 'others' who suffer death and disenfranchisement at your hands eh? One thing we are absolutely sure of though. They and their ancestors have demonstrably been on this land much , much longer than yours. Who cares what they have been called over time. Give them their rights as inhabitants of the land you are illegally annexing.
Israel will not survive if it continues to discriminate the native population. The permanent aggression against them, the destruction of their houses and groves, their imprisonemet and at the same time the uninterrupted expansion of settlements in the occupied territorries will not be tolerated neither by the native population nor by the world. Israel is already one of the most dipised and hated country in the world and this will not change until Israel will not change their lawless politic.
excellent logic.
Yes, it was cool. Gush Katif was illegal, and this settlement was illegal as well. Shame about the people involved in both cases, though.
If they can't get them, then where and how are they supposed to live?
The State of Israel came to them. They were doing just fine before 1948. While I am not justifying that Israel should cease to exist but the State should recognize its national minorities and their way of living.
the village of al-Arakib existed prior to 1948 - I guess it's reasonable of Israel to expect nonJews to time travel from the time of the Ottoman empire into the future to get the necessary paperwork to satisfy the future Jewish state.
and they aren't in Israel... Israel has never legally annexed any territory.
"Illegally" Rachel? These guys were in this land well before you left your countries of oriigin and settled in it. I wonder why these palestinian bedouin still accept to serve in your army knowing the subhuman treatment you reserve for them.
That is a bit heavy-handed. Property owners, be it the state or private citizens, have the right to remove squatters from their property by any means necessary. Even the use of force comensurate with overcoming the resistance offered is permissible. Fines and jail time are over the top when applied against people who already have nothing. It is sufficient that they have to sleep on the ground or beg for shelter from their relatives.
same thing for those building on occupied land!
Soldiers of the jewish state only have mercy with jews. Typical for a pseudo-democratic state. All minorities are just on their own.
If only they would do the same to the hundreds of settlements and thousands of illegal homes built in the occupied west bank. Of course only a democratic country would apply the law in such a even manner, not a racist state.
When it comes to Jewish illegal buildings and stolen property in Jerusalem the state uses numerous excuses and ails to act. This is the same with what they call 'illegal outposts'. You never see 1500 security officers happily carrying out their duties to support court decisions. When it comes to Arabs the long established communities that predate the State are deemed 'illegal' and full force of law quickly and violently descends upon them. if this is not racism what is it then?
You have missed the point. Israel belongs to the Jews--all of it as defined by the borders specified by God. No one has a right to live on the land except by explicit permission of the Jewish Israelis.
G-d took a holiday during the Holocaust G-d is a man made myth
than consider a very unpleasant future for you and your family...
Israel /did/ belong to the Jews. They turned away from God and He abandoned them. When Israel was formed in 1948, the majority of people living there were Arabs. And if you want to take the "Israel belongs to the Jews" route, that is not a legal reason and no other ethnic group in the world uses it as an excuse for illegal acts, such as settlement-building.
The Israeli forces arrived at the village accompanied by busloads of civilians who cheered as the dwellings were demolished.
and, as far as I know, not corroborated by any other sources or witnesses. There were about 150 human rights activists engaging in peaceful protests with the Bedouin against the demolition, not cheering the demolition.
"The Palestinians could enjoy the same freedoms!" we are constantly told, "just look at the successful integration of Druze and bedouins!" This is what eventually happens to all Arabs who collaborate with Israel. They will betray every single last one of them.
Imagine that the "police" of Canaanites would have come to destroy the tents of our fathers and chased them and their children off... Israel, please consider mercy, if it is not in your nature, then for the fear of God who is merciful. Why are you being so cruel to everyone non-Jewish? Have you forgotten the God of Israel is also the God who created mankind?
When Abraham needed a place to bury Sarah, he paid for the plot of ground at Mamre. When Moses led the Hebrews to the promised land, he offered to pay the kings of the land to allowed them to pass through and was refused. Mose then led the tribes around those lands. That was the land of Edom--desendants of Esau.
Jews do not have the right to move indigenous people from their land. The Bedouin were here for hundreds of years, longer than the Jews living here now. If this happened in Canada or the U.S. there would be repercussions for years. What, is the a friggin conquest? Razing homes of indigenous populations? I thought that Israeli racism against non-Jews and Arabs in Israel was bad. But the discrimination and general disregard for the Bedouin is heartbreaking. I am stunned by this. It is sickening and a symptom of a greater ill in this intolerant and self-deserving country.
Or do you think North America is indigenously white? I'm not necessarily supporting the Israeli position here (I don't know enough of the facts to do so or not) but don't pretend this is purely an Israeli issue.
Awesome!
And I thought it was a democracy. Guess the world is right. How about focusing on what the Settlers are doing in the West bank.
This is a disgrace and certainly not the way to resolve the land issues between the state and the Bedouins who are continuing to contest the state's claims to their land in court. I also deplore the arrogance of the 1500 troops brought to the village as if they were going to war. Do we really need more to understand the growth of extreme Islamization of the Bedouin community after such an act? Such violence sets back all the coexistence work being done. It lays the foundations for hatred and frustration with this "democratic" state.
None of this was Jewish lands in 1948
Though I don't agree with the way they did this, you're presenting a wrong fact. Look at the map, of what was supposed to be given to Israel in '48, most of it was desert. The negev...
before there was nothing: a desert in 1948. in 1800 too etc etc. the world has turned several times now. get used to this fact.