The government of Israel is still considering whether to go forward with a 1.75 billion NIS plan designed as a “once-and-for-all” answer, according to its website, to the problems surrounding the governance of Bedouin communities in the Negev Desert. Officials have touted the plan as a promising solution to the complex problems involving development in the region, but some Bedouin and activist groups have recently voiced their strong opposition. The Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages in the Negev (RCUV) is one body claiming that, far from benefiting their communities, as suggested by its architects, in reality the plan would devastate them.
These groups are focusing on a component of the “Five Year Development Plan for the Unrecognized Villages” that allocates 395 million NIS for the expedition of home demolition orders, enforcement of those orders, and compensation for expropriation of the lands currently held by those same unrecognized villages. Under the plan, Israel’s Lands Authority would have the power to rule – apparently “once and for all” – on land claims, and place further limits on the boundaries of currently unrecognized Bedouin communities. The plan would also provide more funding for the hiring of lawyers to press the state’s claims on illegal land use.
By all accounts, these communities are case studies in neglect and deprivation, with little or infrequent access to electricity, running water, and, because the state does not recognize them officially, little in the way of social services. The Bedouin themselves are concerned that the plan’s emphasis on enforcement of the Planning and Building Law could lead to the demolition of the homes of over 70,000 people, with no provision for resettlement. Some of the unrecognized communities predate the founding of the state of Israel and the implementation of its land ownership rules.
In its recent press release responding to the plan, the RCUV expressed its staunch opposition to the its adoption: “We see this Plan as a declaration of war on the Bedouin community of the unrecognized villages, even though the RCUV welcomes any village recognition. The Government has for the first time developed a comprehensive plan for settling the unrecognized villages ‘threat’ with implementations and timetables, budget allocation, and job distribution to each ministry and governmental offices. This plan was never discussed with any of the population or their representatives, or the RCUV. The Bedouin people and their representatives do not support this plan.”
The RCUV and other groups, such as the Association of Forty, have expressed fears that the plan will be used to restrict Bedouin land rights, and to clear their unrecognized communities out of the way for new Jewish settlements.
A 1999 report on the Israeli government’s website entitled “The Bedouin in Israel” outlines the basic “right of possession” granted to Bedouin landowners by the government. But the author, Dr. Yosef Ben-David, an associate researcher at the Jerusalem Institute of Israel Studies, also places those rights in the revealing context of the government’s attitude: “In recent years the Ministerial Committee for the Advancement of Bedouin Affairs has undertaken to solve the problem of land ownership and has been assured of the necessary funds. The government is willing to leave some 20% of the land claimed in Bedouin possession and to compensate them for the remainder.” Approximately 325 million NIS of the amount budgeted for the Five Year Plan would presumably go towards this compensation, a line item that suggests government confiscation of the lands in question is a foregone conclusion, and not open to negotiation.
“In the past, tensions relating to land ownership have led to violence,” Dr. Ben-David wrote three years ago. “A solution is now possible, but it requires the willingness and goodwill of both partners.” For its part, the RCUV does not find much good will in the government’s scheme. “This plan is a comprehensive strategy to remove the Bedouin of the Unrecognized Villages from their land and concentrate them into three townships,” the group claims. They have pledged to fight the implementation of the plan, while continuing to welcome any goodwill efforts on the part of the government on the subject of village recognition.
