Displacing the Bedouin

... to the Bedouins. It would be one thing if the Bedouins stayed out in the desert and lived out their traditional freedom. But if you move into populated areas that has its own rules for land use, it is necessary for peace that everyone subscribe to the prevailing rules. The Bedouins were fine people within their own culture. The 8 track was a great stereo system. The arguments for and against each are similar.

Haaretz is in favor of democracy. However they never write about all the Jewish homes that get bulldozed.

The demolition was accompanied by busloads of high-school students who are members of the Israeli police guard. They were given the task of helping clear the homes of belongings; some of them smashed windows and mirrors and defaced family photographs, afterwards sitting outside on villagers' furniture and cheering on the bulldozers (Max Blumentahl). Does this sound familiar?

How can people born on a piece of land be kicked off, after their ancestors spent countless centuries living there, while a bunch of immigrants who can't even speak Hebrew are entitled to seize land and spark future wars in the West Bank? If any of you support such hypocritical nonsense, you have no business whatsoever complaining when the rest of the world boycotts your junk and starts investing in other economies instead.

When Israel became a state, part of the agreement was it would honor Ottoman/British land titles but Israel used new laws and the court to declare much of the non-Jewish land as state land. In some cases of state claimed land was borderline illegal even under Israel's laws but it hard to fight the state, this land likely needed for military training in early 1950's only to become de facto state land at some point.

Polygamy and Terrorism Polygamy puts awful strains on society.  Let's assume that only 1 Muslim man in 10 can afford the statutory 4 wives and that other men can only afford one.  In a town of 200 people, 100 men and 100 women, the 10 men take a total of 40 women by offering more money to the girl's fathers.  That leaves 60 women for 90 men. 30% of them  find no wife at all. The actual situation is worse with Palestinians and Bedoins. Some men marry more than 4 women. He'll divorce surplus-wives as necessary for the bureaucracy's sake, but he'll keep an ex-wife confined to the house so she'll be available for "creature comfort".  The one Palestimian man featured on BBC, have more than 15 women and near 500 granchildren;  That leaves no women for the remaining 14 men. The Saudi royal family, for example, has about 5,000 princes.  There are reports that each prince gets a monthly allowance of $250,000.  A cash flow of $3 million per year could support at least 20 wives.  20 wives for each of 5,000 princes is 100,000 women, leaving 100,000 men with no marriage prospects. Saudi oil money paid for the harems. It is the wealthiest country in the Middle East so the problem of men not being able to find wives is at its worst there. Most of the 9-11 perpetrators were single Saudis.Most Muslim men can't find fives because neighboring countries have the same customs. Men with no attachment to society easily become terrorist; a successful suicide bomber is guaranteed 75 virgins in the afterlife.  If the only way to get a woman is to commit suicide, so be it. Newspapers report that most Palestinian suicide bombers who blow themselves up to kill Israelis come from the lower ranks to get women in the afterlife. Given the sexual forces involved, militant Islam will be a tough opponent . Gender imbalance fuels terrorism in the Middle East.Peace is a Joke.

What in the world is happening to Israel? How can these things happen? Israel is becoming as dub as the rest of the world. Terrible.

If building in the West Bank is illegal and shoould be destroyed, the same is true within Israel. Many Bedouin in the Negev fled there when Hamas occupied Gaza. They don't have the right to squat wherever they want.

The land the bedouin are squatting on and they are squatters because they have no right to be there and they refuse to pay rent ( partly out of principle because they believe they are rightful owners of the Negev. The government is constantly trying to offer alternatives to relocate the bedouin from land they are illegally occupying. This land belongs to the state not private property. The government wants to start developing the Negev but we get the bedouin squatting by building structures all over the place. Also with bedouin most the time we are not talking about the romantic little idealistic villages the palestinians dream of returning to they are tempoary strctures. Bedouin culture and western style state culture don't mix. Its not about religion its culture and the state wanting to keep control over states land so we don't have anybody building homes anywhere they chose.

A few more "missing" details. This is an on-going legal process with many stages and appeals still pending. For further clarification, prior to 1951, these Bedouin families lived at Al Arakib and were removed by the government for "6 months" , with the promise they'd be able to return following military maneuvers on their land. In the early 90's, the land being idle, they returned to their lands, to which they claim ownership going back to Ottoman and British rule . The local cemetery has some gravestones proving dates; as many didn't know how to read and write, not all are clearly marked. They are willing, despite tradition, to open a grave and have the remains scientifically studied to show the dates of burial. As the land is in dispute, as in other Bedouin villages, they cannot receive building permits These are peace-loving people, citizens of Israel and the states is sadly turning them into enemies.

In the year 1492 were non-christians in Spain, and now it's the turn of non-jews in Israel. Life is a circle.

The ILA had to go to court to get permission to destroy that village eventually they got it but it was a long process. The place was demolished legally and now the bedouin want to come and rebuild on the same spot which is illegal. The state offers the bedouin plenty but they reject they want to be able the ones to decide where they will build villages not the state. If somebody is born in Tel Aviv and lived there for generations all their life and that person decides he wants to build himself a house without permission from the ILA should we allow him to build that house because his family have lived in Tel Aviv for generations? The bedouin believe the Negev is private property and they are allowed to build anywhere they want which they are not allowed to do. ALL COUNTRIES have planning laws and don't let people build wherever they want just because they like the spot and Israel is no different. If the bedouin builld illegally its not easy for the state to get permission to demolish the place without going through the courts but if its not recognized it doesn't have to hook it up to the main system. This is the modern day version of the bedouin with their nomadic lifestyle. In the past they set up their tent somewhere in the desert when they wanted to move on they packed up the camel and found a new place to stay. These bedouin decide where they want to live and build a village. Neither the politicians or the ILA have done anything wrong. The bedouin are the ONLY ones at fault here and until they change their lifestyle we will continue to have these problems.

There is something missing in this op-ed, namely the full and exact details that led to the court’s verdict. The author writes: ‘Even if there is substance to the State's claims that the village's lands belong to the State and not to the inhabitants, it should have offered other solutions…’ Well, is there substance in the State’s claims? That point is not clear. The author then adds ‘After a protracted legal battle, the State destroyed the village’. So, this did not happen from one day to the other. There was a long legal battle -how many years? I would have liked to know if the State offered alternatives which were rejected by the villagers. I doubt the court would have offered other solutions, that is not their job; their duty is to rule on legal matters according to the law of the country. Haaretz once again, is focusing on the (sad) result of a legal decision but not on the complex problem – land ownership versus squatting.

from Egypt ,enticed by the benefits and freebies offered by the modern state and generous state.

From the report of the recent demolition of the Bedouin village of Al-Arakib in the Negev which appeared on the website of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, "according to Dr. Yeela Ranaan of the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, destruction of the villages in al-Araqib has been occurring since the 1950s. She notes that the Jewish National Fund plans to plant a forest on the village lands, and that the current actions are part of a larger government policy to displace the indigenous Bedouin from the land." I find this especially disturbing as an Australian Jew, because the local branch of the JNF here is currently appealing to Australian Jews to donate funds for planting forests in the Negev. Are Australian Jew who donate to the JNF contributing to the demolition of Bedouin villages?

He himself admits that he is pushing the religious "toward extremism and crime".

Their goats should graze in gardens of Savion and camels drink from swimming pools of Kfar Shmaryahu.

if you had actually done the research prior to making this outrageous article..but you want Israel to remove all settlements in the west bank? ....Here is the chronology of the events...in 1998 bedouin came onto the land and were evicted...they returned and built up institutions even though it wasn't their land...this IS state owned land...get the facts straight about this case prior to making it some racist policy or ethnic cleansing policy...

It was an institutionalized form of racism, especially in the South where it was called Jim Crow laws. Fortunately we overcame that barbarity and have advanced quite a bit in a half century. Here's hoping that Israel's society will have strong civil rights advocates emerge, creating the movement within Israeli society that seeks to erase this stain of racism and discrimination forever from their society. Many of you may know that some of the most active allies of the African-Americans in their quest for equal rights in the US were American Jews. Let's hope that the Bedouin and Arabs of Israel find similar friends in Israel who value justice and equality before the law.

I have worked with Bedouin and charities and I can say that the Bedouin issue is not so one sided. These illegal, shanty towns of squatters were health hazard to the residents and there was not proper infrastructure in place for a village. Here is a society where incest, domestic violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, unemployment run rampant and these are issues that must be dealt with. Bedouins need to have their own economy and to have more stability and not to be pushed aside, but not allowed to run wild like weeds in the negev.

Yesterday I was at Al Arakib, along with other morally-minded friends, to help rebuild and support the villagers. The sight that "greets" you, upon entering the village, is disbelief: piles of demolished houses, clothing, mattresses, household utensils.... The villagers, young and old, sitting among the rubble. We helped put up some basic wooden framed structures covered by tarp. One elementary school, who'd come with his family from Tel Aviv, insisted on helping, too and asking questions. Why did the government do this? How did they demolish? Where did they expect the Bedouins to go? I ask the same questions.

Not only is this wrong and the way it's being done brutal but it is totally self-destructive. What began as loyal citizens will ultimatley and understandably see the State as their enemy. There are other wiser ways to deal with the issues involved in these cases of bedouin settlements on lands that they have good reason to feel they have some rights over. Israel is not unique in its drive to settle and concentrate nomads or former nomads in 'modern' settlements, but this should be done in a voluntary and participatory way, if at all. In Israel's case the stakes are higher in alienating this minority. It may be 'right' legally and from a short-term perspective but foolish and ultimately self-destructive.

It discriminates against other religions.

Embrace their precious culture, anable the safe continuity of their life-style, engage them with listening to their plight and aggravations. They have been overwhelmingly loyal members (I can't write "citizens" because they don't live in cities so much) of Israel. They have served courageously in the IDF. They deserve the fullest, most committed and attentive embrace by Israeli society.

The state WILL have deserved it!

that Israel is a racist state engaged in ethnic cleansing. its in all the papers including yours...don't you guys read what your write?