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22/04/2003
The FIDH and its partner organisation Mossawa wish to denounce
the policy of transfer led by the Israeli government against
the Arab Bedouins in the Negev Desert. The government has been
implementing several parallel initiatives aimed at transferring
70,000 Bedouins living in “unrecognised” villages
in the Negev desert to 7 “legal” settlements. The
final phase of the displacement process will involve the settlement
of Jewish families in the Negev, in 14 planned settlements.
A plan to remove the Negev Bedouin from their land has been
inserted into the Finance Ministry's Emergency Economic plan.
The proposed "Removal of Intruders Law" deems the
70,000 Bedouin occupants of the unrecognized villages "trespassers"
on "government land," and calls for their direct removal.
If the "Intruder Law" slips through, these Bedouin
will be displaced and transferred into 7 existent urban settlements,
threatening their traditional way of life.
Despite general budget cuts, the economic plan provides 56
million shekels (about 11 million euros) to implement the law,
and calls for its passage in the Knesset. This funding will
be allocated mainly for the creation of new security forces
to hasten the displacement of Bedouin households from their
land. Normally, funding for implementation should be approved
after the passage of a law. In this case, the process has been
reversed.
Half of Israel’s Bedouin population live in villages
not legally recognized by the Israeli government. Over the years,
the other half of the Negev Bedouin have concentrated in 7 impoverished
townships in the Beersheva region, via a process of forced sedentarisation.
Bedouin citizens in these 7 townships receive sub-standard services
from the government. The Finance Ministry's recent economic
package will further cut services to these communities.
In particular, since Bedouin families are some of the largest
and poorest in Israel, the Finance Ministry's proposed cuts
to child subsidies will directly injure the Bedouin community.
While the Bedouin suffer the highest infant mortality in Israel
-- and are denied access to healthcare, education, or sanitation
because of the “unrecognised” status of the villages
-- only 2.5 million shekels (EUR 505 100) will address their
health and basic needs. Furthermore, while 42% of the program
funds will be allocated to enforcement of the new planning law,
less then 1% of the total budget will go towards welfare and
vocational training for the Bedouin community.
The first manifestations of the new transfer policy have already
taken place. On February 5, government inspectors razed Tal
al Milah Mosque in the Negev, after most residents had left
for work, and before Bedouin representatives could appeal the
demolition order. The Supreme Court ruled this demolition illegal
on March 4th. On April 2, for the second time in a month, the
Israeli government sent a fleet of crop-dusting planes from
the Green patrol, a paramilitary environmental unit, to spray
toxic chemicals over Bedouin fields. Following the February
dusting incident, houses and people in the village of Abda,
residents rushed their children to the nearest medical centre,
nearly 100 km away, in Mitzpeh Ramon. The doctors on duty refused
to see any of the exposed individuals and agreed to examine
them only after two hours of pressure from the community.
In the past few years, the Green patrol has engaged in the
eradication of flocks and demolition of Bedouin homes. Its recent
strikes on Bedouin farmland represent one of the many ways the
Israeli government is attempting to pressure the “unrecognised”
villagers to move from their traditional lands.
The FIDH and Mossawa assert that as citizens of Israel, the
Bedouins of the Negev are entitled to equal treatment, in particular
in terms of access to infrastructure, education, healthcare
and sanitation. We urge the Israeli government to end its policy
of forced transfer, and put an end to discrimination, in accordance
with international human rights standards.
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