Al-Araqeeb
Al-Araqeeb[1] was a farming village of the al-Turi Bedouin tribe, ten kilometers north of Beer Sheva, population 200–300.[2] It was among the unrecognized Bedouin villages in Israel, located on land claimed by the Israeli government and part of an area which is slated for reforestation as part of the Blueprint Negev.[3] On July 27, 2010, it was demolished by the Israel Land Administration overseen by 1,300 police.[4]
Dispute over land ownership
In 1951, according to Bedouin leaders, they were forced by Israel's military into settlements along the West Bank border.[5] They say they have been pushed off their land whenever they return.[5] Bedouin families around Arakib say they own about 4,600 acres of the Negev desert,[5] insisting that they paid taxes to the Ottoman Empire and later to the British.[5]
Israeli officials say the property was taken over by the state in the early 1950s because it was abandoned[5] and because inhabitants were unable to produce deeds.[5] They maintained that the Bedouins have been squatters who have refused to pay rent and have cultivated land that did not belong to them.[5] The residents were also accused of raising animals without obtaining the necessary livestock permits.[5]
In 1999, several dozen families built homes there when it appeared the government was attempting to seize the land,[5] resulting in legal proceedings[5] in the Beersheva District Court.[4]
In 2004, the Israel Lands Authority used crop duster fumigation to destroy the residents' wheat crops.[6][7] This practice was outlawed in 2007 after the Adalah legal center for Arab rights in Israel filed a petition to the High Court on behalf of the residents of Al-Araqeeb and Wadi al-Bakar.[8]
According to the ILA, the residents had been offered the chance of renting the land, but refused to pay and "continued to infiltrate the land year after year."[9] As of the time of the demolition, ownership of the land was the subject of proceedings in the Beersheva District Court.[4][2]
Tens of thousands of structures have been built in Bedouin communities, and new ones are built far quicker than the state can demolish them.[9] They are illegal since the state never issues construction permits for the unrecognized villages.[10]
2010 eviction
In July 2010, following a court order, Israeli police demolished between 30 to 45 homes of the village, evicting all residents.[11] The destruction was "accompanied by busloads of civilians who cheered as the dwellings were demolished."[12] Hundreds of olive trees belonging to the villagers were uprooted.[13] Left-wing activists mildly clashed with police during the demolition.[14]
Some residents immediately began building rebuilding their homes.[12] Shlomo Tziser, A Land Administration administrator told the press that, "the people who live here have homes in Rahat and Kfar Kassem. We are implementing a verdict for the evacuation of the area which has passed all legal instances. Today we shall evacuate them and should they return we'll do it again." [14]
Second demolition
One week after the last demolition, the village was razed again after some parts of it had been rebuilt.[15] Six people were arrested during the second demolition of the village.[15]
See also
References
External links
- Sarah Jean Kyle: Peacemakers left village days before it destruction. Fort Collins Coloradoan, 28. Juli 2010.
- Interview with Khalil Alamour, organizer of protest at demolished village at The Only Democracy
- ↑ also spelled Arakiv, Arakib, Arakeeb, Araqib, Kafr al-Arakib
- ↑ a b Oren Yiftachel, "The horror show at al-Araqib village" (Hebrew), Haaretz, August 8, 2010. [1]
- ↑ "Israel: We Choose Trees" Avi Kaufman, July 27, 2010, Huffington Post.
- ↑ a b c " Bedouin village reportedly razed. Jewish Telegraph Agency, 27. Juli 2010.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Edmund Sanders: Israel razes homes in Bedouin village In: Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2010. Abgerufen im August 1, 2010
- ↑ Diana Vinding: The Indigenous World 2005. IWGIA, 2005, S. 415 (google.com).
- ↑ Nir Hasson and Haaretz Correspondent, "Negev Bedouin protest home demolitions, crop destruction", Haaretz, Feb 15, 2004. [2]
- ↑ Yuval Yoaz: State ordered to stop spraying Bedouin land with chemicals In: Haaretz, 16.04.07
- ↑ a b http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?ID=183689 State demolishes Beduin homes again
- ↑ Vorlage:Cite article
- ↑ Jack Khoury, Yair Yagna: Police destroy dozens of buildings in unrecognized Bedouin village in Negev. Haartz, 28. Juli 2010.
- ↑ a b Paul Colsey, Kareem Khadder and Ben Wedeman: Bedouins evicted from village in southern Israel. CNN, 27. Juli 2010.
- ↑ Israel police raze 'illegal' Bedouin village in Negev. BBC, 28. Juli 2010.
- ↑ a b "1,300 policemen guard razing of Bedouin village; Land Administration personnel demolish 45 illegal structures in al-Arakib village, near Rahat." Ilana Curiel, 07.27.10, Y-nat News.
- ↑ a b Ilana Curiel: Bedouin village razed again; MK forcefully removed In: Ynetnews, 08.04.10