On July 27, 2010 Israeli riot police demolished the “unrecognized village” of al-Araqib for the first time. In the three years since, villagers have rebuilt and police forces demolished the village over 50 times. After dozens of demolitions, villagers resigned themselves to rebuilding in the cemetery, the only location spared by the demolitions.
Click here for Activestills’s coverage of the first demolitions
People praying after the Iftar meal at the unrecognized village of Al-Arqib during an event marking three years to the first demolition of the village, July 27, 2013. Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org
On July 27, 2013, residents of al-Araqib and supporters held a protest marking the three years since the first demolition. They marched from the planned Bedouin city of Rahat to the village, where they held an Iftar meal, breaking the Ramadan fast.
PHOTOS: Images of Bedouin displacement foreshadow a ‘Nakba in the Negev’
The protest comes as the Israeli government is moving forward with a plan to demolish dozens of such unrecognized villages in the Negev, threatening to displace tens of thousands of people. Earlier in July, protests against the plan took place in throughout Israel and Palestine and a second “day of rage” is planned for August 1.
Read +972’s full coverage of the Prawer-Begin Plan
Demonstrators marking three years to the first demolition in Al Araqib and protesting against the Prawer Plan, in the Bedouin town of Rahat, July 27, 2013. Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org
Demonstrators marking three years to the first demolition in Al Araqib and protesting against the Prawer Plan, in the Bedouin town of Rahat, July 27, 2013. Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
Demonstrators marking three years to the first demolition in Al Araqib and protesting against the Prawer Plan, in the Bedouin town of Rahat, July 27, 2013. Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org
Residents of the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al Araqib prepare food for the Iftar meal, breaking the fast during the month of Ramadan, as Bedouins and activists gather to mark three years to the first demolition of the village, July 27, 2013. Photo by: oren ziv/Activestills.org
Residents of the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al Araqib prepare food for the Iftar meal, breaking the fast during the month of Ramadan, as Bedouins and activists gather to mark three years to the first demolition of the village, July 27, 2013. Photo by: oren ziv/Activestills.org
A view on the unrecognized village of Al Araqib during sunset, July 27, 2013.
Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org
Related:
‘When I look at the Prawer Plan, I see another Nakba’
A visit to the evacuated village of Al-Araqib
Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war – the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel and the massive retaliatory Israeli attacks on Gaza. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing violence.
We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed unleashed by these events has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Hamas’ murderous assault in southern Israel has devastated and shocked the country to its core. Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza is wreaking destruction on the already besieged strip and killing a ballooning number of civilians. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to escalate their attacks on Palestinians.
This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 13 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, the entrenched occupation, and an increasingly normalized siege on Gaza.
We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.
Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is the leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists and activists can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.