Approval of Prawer Plan: continued discrimination of the Bedouin community

An unrecognized village, photo by Sliman Abu Zaid

ACRI and Bimkom-Planners for Planning Rights strongly condemn the government’s decision today (11 September 2011) to vote in favor of the Prawer Plan, citing the unnecessary uprooting of tens of thousands of Bedouin from their homes, against their will and in clear violation of their historical and proprietary rights to the land. Approval of the plan allows for the government’s continued discrimination of and disregard for one of the most disenfranchised communities in Israel, during a period in which a mass protest movement in Israel has been calling on the government to instill policies that provide equal rights to all citizens.
 
The Prawer Plan was prepared without the participation of the 35 unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, who have been suffering from severe neglect and lack of infrastructure since establishment of the State in 1948. ACRI and Bimkom representatives warn that the government principles for “arranging recognition of Bedouin in the Negev” contradicts the recommendations made by the Goldberg Commission, which determined that the treatment of Bedouin living in the unrecognized villages is unjust and ineffective and must be corrected by recognizing these Bedouin communities in their current physical space.
 
ACRI and Bimkom insist that only a master plan based on respect for human rights of the Bedouin population and that includes them in the decision-making process will bring about a lasting and holistic solution in the Negev that will contribute to the betterment of all who live there, both Arabs and Jews.
 
To download a position paper written by ACRI, Bimkom, and the Regional Council of Unrecognized Bedouin Villages – click here.
 
To download a summary of this position paper, click here.