Al-Araqeeb
Encyclopedia
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.
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 deed
s. 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.
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 tree
s 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."
member Taleb el-Sana
was forcibly removed from the scene by police after he had tried to stop the demolition.
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, villagers attacked Jewish National Fund forestry workers and police officers guarding them, resulting in clashes. 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 attacked JNF workers and their police escorts. Police responded by firing paintballs. Two villagers were lightly injured and taken to Soroka Medical Center.
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
tribe in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, five miles (8 km) north of Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
, with a population 200–300. The village is regarded as an illegal settlement by the Israeli government, and the Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
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
Israel Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration is part of the government of Israel and is responsible for managing the 93% of the land in Israel which is in the public domain. These lands are either property of the state, belong to the Jewish National Fund which controls 13% of the land, or belong to the Israel...
. 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
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 NegevNegev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
desert, insisting that they paid taxes to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
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 deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
s. They maintained that the Bedouins have been squatters who refused to pay rent and cultivated land
Cultivation
Cultivation may refer to:* plant cultivation* tillage, cultivation of the soil* breeding, cultivation of animals* Microbiological culture, a method of multiplying microbial organisms* A video game by Jason Rohrer...
that did not belong to them. The residents were also accused of raising animals
Domestication
Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. In the Convention on Biological Diversity a domesticated species is defined as a 'species in which the evolutionary process has been...
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
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
, 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
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
.
In 2004, the Israel Land Administration
Israel Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration is part of the government of Israel and is responsible for managing the 93% of the land in Israel which is in the public domain. These lands are either property of the state, belong to the Jewish National Fund which controls 13% of the land, or belong to the Israel...
used crop duster fumigation
Fumigation
Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides—or fumigants—to suffocate or poison the pests within. It is utilized for control of pests in buildings , soil, grain, and produce, and is also used during processing of goods to be imported or...
to destroy the residents' wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
crops. This practice was outlawed in 2007 after the Adalah
Adalah
Adalah means justice and denotes The Justice of God. It is among the five Shia Principles of the Religion.The Shias believe that there is intrinsic good or evil in things, and that God commands them to do the good things and shun the evil...
legal center for Arab rights in Israel filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
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
In July 2010, Israel Land AdministrationIsrael Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration is part of the government of Israel and is responsible for managing the 93% of the land in Israel which is in the public domain. These lands are either property of the state, belong to the Jewish National Fund which controls 13% of the land, or belong to the Israel...
inspectors and 1,300 police officers demolished the villages' 46 buildings and uprooted 850 trees, which were transferred for replanting elsewhere. Witnesses told CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
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 tree
Olive Tree
The Olive Tree was a denomination used for several successive centre-left Italian political coalitions from 1995 to 2007.The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi, Professor of Economics and former leftist Christian Democrat, who invented the name and the symbol of...
s 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 KnessetKnesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
member Taleb el-Sana
Taleb el-Sana
Taleb el-Sana is an Israeli politician and lawyer, and is currently the longest serving Arab Member of the Knesset.-Biography:Born in Tel Arad in the Negev, he is an Israeli Arab of Bedouin origin. el-Sana studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a lawyer by profession...
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 RamadanRamadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
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
Intifada
Intifada is an Arabic word which literally means "shaking off", though it is usually translated into English as "uprising" or "resistance" or "rebellion". , not to be confused with the Arabic plural ...
, 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, villagers attacked Jewish National Fund forestry workers and police officers guarding them, resulting in clashes. Six people were injured and taken to Soroka Medical Center
Soroka Medical Center
Soroka Medical Center is a hospital in Beersheba, Israel. It is the largest medical center in southern region of the country, and the fourth largest in Israel with approximately 1000 beds. It is owned by Clalit, the largest Health Maintenance Organization in Israel. Soroka services diverse ethnic...
in Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
, and three villagers were arrested for throwing stones. On February 16, villagers again attacked JNF workers and their police escorts. Police responded by firing paintballs. Two villagers were lightly injured and taken to Soroka Medical Center.
External links
- Interview with Khalil Alamour, organizer of protest at demolished village at The Only Democracy