Al-Araqeeb

Demolished house in Al-Araqeeb

Al-Araqeeb is a village of the Al-Turi Arab Bedouin tribe in Israel, five miles (8 km) north of Beersheba, with a population 200–300. The village is regarded as an illegal settlement by the Israeli government, and the Jewish National Fund plans to include the land in a new forestation project. In 2010, the village was demolished by 1,300 police officers, acting under orders of the Israel Land Administration. Residents returned to the land immediately began to rebuild the village, and it was demolished again on August 4. It was rebuilt and destroyed an additional seven times between the beginning of August and mid-January 2011.

Dispute over land ownership

Map showing Al-Araqeeb tribe location in the 1940s

In 1951, according to Bedouin leaders, they were forced by Israel's military into settlements along the West Bank border. They say they have been pushed off their land whenever they return. Bedouin families around Arakib say they own about 4,600 acres of the Negev desert, insisting that they paid taxes to the Ottoman Empire and later to the British.

Israeli officials say the property was taken over by the state in the early 1950s because it was abandoned and because inhabitants were unable to produce deeds. They maintained that the Bedouins have been squatters who refused to pay rent and cultivated land that did not belong to them. The residents were also accused of raising animals without livestock permits.

According to the ILA, Bedouins began illegally settling in the area in 1998. In 1999, several dozen families built homes in the area when it appeared the government was attempting to seize the land. The residents were offered the chance of renting the land for 2 NIS per dunam, but they refused to pay and "continued to infiltrate the land year after year." In 2000, a court order banned the Bedouins from entering the area. The ruling was disregarded, as Bedouins continued to move into the area and plant trees. In 2003, The ILA received a court order to evacuate the residents, and the case went to the Israeli Supreme Court.

In 2004, the Israel Land Administration used crop duster fumigation to destroy the residents' wheat crops. This practice was outlawed in 2007 after the Adalah legal center for Arab rights in Israel filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on behalf of the residents of Al-Araqeeb and Wadi al-Bakar.

As of the time of the demolition, ownership of the land was the subject of proceedings in the Beersheba District Court.

Tens of thousands of structures have been built in Bedouin communities, and new ones are built far quicker than the state can demolish them. They are illegal since the state never issues construction permits for the unrecognized villages.

2010 eviction

Demolished house in Al-Araqeeb

In July 2010, Israel Land Administration inspectors and 1,300 police officers demolished the villages' 46 buildings and uprooted 850 trees, which were transferred for replanting elsewhere. Witnesses told CNN that the hundreds of Israeli riot police who stormed the village were accompanied by "busloads of cheering civilians". Israeli police said that there were "no disturbances". Hundreds of olive trees belonging to the villagers were uprooted. Israeli left-wing activists mildly clashed with police during the demolition.

Some residents immediately began rebuilding their homes. 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."

Second demolition

One week after the last demolition (August 4), the village was razed again after residents returned to the land and rebuilt some parts of it. Six people were arrested during the second demolition of the village. Bedouin Knesset member Taleb el-Sana was forcibly removed from the scene by police after he had tried to stop the demolition.

Further demolitions

Throughout the next two weeks, the village was demolished a third (August 10) and a fourth time (August 17) after residents rebuilt it. The demolition on August 17 took place at dawn during Ramadan while the villagers were fasting. Throughout the following months, residents continued to return to the village and build makeshift structures. Four more demolitions took place on September 12, October 13, November 22 and December 23. On January 16, 2011, Israeli security forces demolished the village for the ninth time, destroying eleven makeshift buildings. Protesters clashed with police, who responded with pepper spray and paintball guns. Five protesters were injured. Taleb el-Sana, who was again in attendance told Israeli media that, "The state is pushing its Bedouin citizens to the point where they may launch a popular intifada, which will have severe results." The inhabitants immediately returned to the site. The following day, police arrived at the site and evicted the residents, clashing with residents and Israeli leftists. An Israeli police officer was injured by stones thrown at him, and police responded by firing paintballs at protesters, injuring one. Five people were arrested. On January 31, the village was again demolished, while police forces also guarded Jewish National Fund forestation work in the area.

On February 10, 2011, clashes occured again, "after the residents and activists disrupted" the work of the Jewish National Fund forestry workers. Six people were injured and taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, and three villagers were arrested for throwing stones. On February 16, villagers again clashed with JNF workers and their police escorts. Police responded by firing paintballs. Two villagers were lightly injured and taken to Soroka Medical Center.

Resolution in court

Seventeen Bedouin of the al-Uqbi family claimed that the land they are on, including Al-Araqeeb, belongs to them rather than to the State of Israel. The judge ruled in favor of the State saying that the land was not "assigned to the plaintiffs, nor held by them under conditions required by law," and that they still had to "prove their rights to the land by proof of its registration in the Tabu" (Israel Lands Authority). Furthermore, the judge said that the Bedouin knew they were supposed to register, but didn't, saying "the state said that although the complainants are not entitled to compensation, it has been willing to negotiate with them," and that "it is a shame that these negotiations did not reach any agreement." The court also ordered the Bedouin to pay legal costs of 50,000NIS.

See also

• Negev Bedouin
• Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages
• Blueprint Negev

External links

• Sarah Jean Kyle: Peacemakers left village days before it destruction. Fort Collins Coloradoan, 28. Juli 2010; abgerufen im 1. Januar 1. 
• Interview with Khalil Alamour, organizer of protest at demolished village at The Only Democracy