To:
Mr. Meir Sheetrit
Minister of Housing and Construction
Re: The “evacuation-compensation” plan for the Arab Bedouin population that reside in unrecognized villages in the Negev
We read with dismay media reports claiming that you are considering adopting the “evacuation-compensation” plan. The plan proposes using an incentive of increased compensation as a means to encourage Bedouin citizens of the Negev to move to government-planned towns. However, the plan also recommends the forced evacuation of anyone who does not accept these terms. According to the media reports, you have also decided to reject the mediation process between the State and the Bedouin population to resolve this issue, even though it was you who initially recommended this proposal during your term as Minister of Justice in the Sharon government. You also stated, according to these reports, that it is a “nice proposal but unfortunately there is no time for mediation” (Ha`aretz 15.2.07). This decision was taken, apparently, despite the findings of an international institute that was commissioned by the government, which indicated that the mediation process was likely to bring about positive results.
As you know, the Arab Bedouin population in the Negev comprises almost 160,000 residents and represents an integral part of the Palestinian-Arab population in Israel, which is an indigenous national ethnic minority. Approximately half of this population resides in dozens of unrecognized villages, or in villages that have been officially recognized but have yet to receive the requisite planning and therefore face the same substandard conditions as the unrecognized villages. A large majority of these villages existed before the establishment of the State of Israel, and the rest were established in the 1950s to accommodate Bedouin citizens who had been relocated from other parts of the Negev. These residents were transferred from land that traditionally belonged to them or was under their management, to limited territory in a restricted area. Since then, Israeli governments have, almost exclusively, proposed only one residential solution, namely the transfer of the Bedouin population to the city of Rahat and six other permanent townships. The discriminatory transfer “solution” not only violates the rights of the Bedouin population to dignity and to equal access to land and planning resources, but has also proven ineffective. More recently, the Israeli government decided to formalize the planning and/or establish nine additional urban townships, which are subject to the municipal management of the regional council of Abu-Basma.
Concomitantly, in response to the petition submitted by ACRI on behalf of the Regional Council for Unrecognized Negev Arab Villages and other organizations, the State recognized the discriminatory nature of planning policies that are directed against the Arab-Bedouin population in the Negev, and committed itself to redressing this situation through the preparation of an outline plan for the metropolitan district of Beersheba. However, instead of promoting a plan which could potentially lead to an equitable and effective distribution of land, which would take into account the historic ownership rights of this indigenous minority, the government is instead proposing discriminatory planning proposals such as the 2015 Negev plan. The primary aim of this plan is to encourage Jewish migration to the area, through, among other means, government investment and the development of communal Jewish settlements and isolated farms. These farms are situated on large plots of land comprising hundreds of dunams, and are designated for one family only, whereas Bedouin villages of 500 residents or more are denied recognition under the premise that there is insufficient land. This same plan relates to the residents of the unrecognized villages as an impediment to the Negev’‘s development, and denies them the right to be treated as equal citizens who are also entitled to benefit from development initiatives. Any government funding that is slated for the community is designated for the implementation of State programs that ignore the community’‘s needs, and violate their basic rights.
The residents of the unrecognized villages welcomed the transfer of overall responsibility for the Arab-Bedouin population in the Negev to the Ministry of Housing and Construction, and held great hopes for this change. However, unfortunately, the aforementioned media reports of an intended forced evacuation prove that fact that these hopes were misguided.
The dual intention of uprooting entire villages and evacuating their residents, against their will has far-reaching and dangerous implications for the rights of these citizens. It is also in direct contravention of international conventions which the State has ratified, primarily the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, which obligates the State “to recognize and protect the rights of indigenous peoples to own, develop, control and use their communal lands, territories and resources and, where they have been deprived of their lands and territories traditionally owned or otherwise inhabited or used without their free and informed consent, to take steps to return these lands and territories. Only when this is for factual reasons not possible, the right to restitution should be substituted by the right to just, fair and prompt compensation. Such compensation should as far as possible take the form of lands and territories”. The proposed evacuation is significantly more serious when one considers the fact that the unrecognized villages in the Negev were not marked out in the outline plan for the metropolitan district of Beersheba, and are therefore denied the right to equitable planning or residential solutions.
If one reads between the lines, then it appears that the State feels morally justified to forcibly evacuate Israeli citizens from the unrecognized villages as part of the “evacuation-compensation” plan, after what it considers to be the successful completion of last summer’‘s Disengagement Plan, during which the entire Jewish settler population were evacuated from Gush Katif. However, there are substantive differences between these two populations, the central one being that according to international law the Israeli governorship of the Occupied Territories is intended to be temporary, and residents of the State of Israel, as opposed to permanent residents of the Occupied Territories, have no legal right to reside in occupied territory. On the other hand, the Negev is an integral part of Israeli sovereign territory, as are its residents, Jew and Arab alike.
Moreover, the reported plan to forcibly evacuate residents (who do not agree to the compensation terms) of the unrecognized villages, and relocate them to permanent residential settlements, contradicts statements that you made during a session of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on 16 January 2007. During the session, you expressed your determination to resolve the issue of contested land ownership through dialogue, and by reaching an understanding with the local population. In the meeting you said, “that any agreement that is reached, must be one that the majority of the population can live with, and should be reinforced by legislation.” Negotiations between the State and its Arab citizens to resolve ownership rights of Negev land must be carried out with good will, and with an appreciation of the rights of the indigenous minority, which represents approximately 28% of the population in the district of Beersheba, but which holds only 3.5% of the land. The negotiators should not force the residents to accept the plan whether they agree with it or not.
The suffering endured by the residents of the unrecognized villages requires a comprehensive systemic solution that is based on the concept of equality, and which enables the population to enjoy basic rights such as: the right to housing, education, health, livelihood and dignity, like any citizen of the country. The proposed solution should also include formal planning and full municipal recognition, through the provision of an appropriate State budget, which should be sufficient to establish an effective civic infrastructure, to close societal gaps, and redress almost 60 years of discrimination. Only joint planning, that is based on reciprocity and equality is likely to engender an integrated and comprehensive program that will effectively promote the rights of the Arab-Bedouin population in the Negev.
The transfer of overall responsibility for the Bedouin sector to you presents you with a window of opportunity to initiate a change in the attitude of the State toward this weakened population. We believe that such a comprehensive change, from traditional attitudes of previous Israeli governments, which viewed Bedouins as a societal burden, and related to them as a potential danger to the security of the State and its territorial contiguity, is an essential condition for the beginning of the process. Any plan that relates to the living conditions of Bedouin citizens should consider them to be worthy of equal rights and must take into account their unique social character when considering their needs and requirements.
In light of the aforementioned, we are writing to request that you reconsider the plan that your office is currently working on, and call on you to re-state your support for the opening of a mediation process to resolve the issue of disputed land ownership.
We would like to use this opportunity to express our willingness to provide you with any technical assistance you require to resolve the current distressing situation of the Negev Bedouin population. To further this aim, we would be happy to meet with you and share our insight and broad understanding of the severe problems that must be contended with, and whose resolution is extremely urgent.
Respectfully,
Adv. Banna Shougri Badarne
last updated : 17/04/07
