Prawer plan

Young Palestinians demonstrate against the Prawer Plan in East Jerusalem, November 30, 2013. (Photo: Activestills.org)

The case for a unified Palestinian protest movement

The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee is calling for a general strike against recent Israel-U.S. attempts to further repress Palestinians. This is an opportunity to involve a younger generation of activists, and coordinate a joint struggle. By Rabeea Eid Palestinians across Israel, the West Bank and Gaza are banding together in a general strike on October 1, in…

By +972 Magazine September 24, 2018

Bedouin women collect their belongings from the ruins of their demolished homes in the village of Umm al-Hiran, Negev desert, January 18, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Israel is razing a Bedouin village to build a Jewish-only town on its ruins

Israeli authorities have promised the courts that the displaced Bedouin residents would have an opportunity to live in the new community. New documents show that is far from the case. Despite assurances made to Israel’s High Court of Justice, a new town being built on the ruins of a Bedouin village in southern Israel is…

By Edo Konrad August 10, 2017

A Bedouin woman enters a tin shack in the unrecognized village of Umm el-Hiran, the Negev. November 22, 2016. Residents expected Israeli authorities to demolish the entire village a few hours earlier. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

From Umm el-Hiran, the future of Zionism looks bleak

Israeli authorities delay the demolition of the Bedouin village of Umm el-Hiran. But it’s just a matter of time. A regime that by definition privileges one national group at the expense of another, the indigenous group, has no choice but to destroy Umm el-Hiran for the benefit of the Jews waiting to move in. Despite…

By Orly Noy November 22, 2016

Latest

A man from the Zanoun family sits on the ruins of his house a few hours after it was demolished by the Israeli Land Administration, in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Wadi Al Na'am, Negev Desert, May 18, 2014. The family of seven people was living in the house demolished for being illegaly built. Wadi Al-Na’am is the largest unrecognized village in Israel, with about 13,000 inhabitants, most of its inhabitants are internally displaced. The village is not connected to electricity and its inhabitants are subjected to Israel's house demolition policy. (Keren Manor/Activestills)

New Jewish settlements planned ‘on top of’ Bedouin villages

The Israeli government approves a plan for five new settlements in the Negev/Naqab. Rights group says the plan, like Israel’s overall policy regarding its Bedouin citizens, is discriminatory. The Israeli government on Sunday approved a plan for five new Jewish settlements to be built in the Negev (Naqab) in the south of Israel. The plan,…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland November 23, 2015

Israeli Police arrest a protester outside the village of Hura in the Negev, where a large demonstration took place against the Prawer Plan, November 30, 2013. The Prawer Plan, if implemented, will displace tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens of Israel. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Shin Bet threatens Bedouin activist, offers money to prevent protests

Agents of Israel’s security services raid the homes of several young Bedouin activists, summon them for ‘friendly chats’ and attempt to coax them into suppressing protests they claim undermine the ‘fundamental principles of the state.’ By John Brown* It’s Tuesday, just after midnight in the Bedouin town of Lakia in the Negev Desert. Black jeeps…

By +972 Magazine November 3, 2015

Two bulldozers and two police officers was all it took, Al Araqib, October 28, 2015. (Aziz Alturi)

Israel demolishes Bedouin village of Al Araqib — for the 90th time

Things have been quiet in the Negev lately. So the authorities decided to take advantage of this period of relative calm and, while everybody’s attention was elsewhere, sent the bulldozers to destroy the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al Araqib — for the 90th time. By Avi Blecherman Bulldozers returned to the Israeli Bedouin village of Al…

By +972 Magazine October 28, 2015

Mounted Israeli policemen chase a Bedouin youth during a protest against the Israeli government's Prawer Plan, on road 31 on November 30, 2013 near the town of Hura, Israel.

Is Bibi using J’lem violence as an excuse to target all Arabs?

Netanyahu is trying to expand the open-fire regulations so that they target Arabs inside Israel. The outcome? Only more bloodshed. By John Brown* and Michal Rotem For the past few weeks it has been difficult not to avoid reports on stone throwing in East Jerusalem. Government representatives compete with one another over who will offer…

By +972 Magazine September 26, 2015

Sanda Abulkian sits outside her demolished house in the unrecognized village of Atir on July 12, 2013. The Abulkian house has demolished four times already, three of them during 2013. (Photo: Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

A living legacy of displacement

The impulses that drove the dispossession of the 1948 war are still acted on today, on both sides of the borders it forged. “Did you know I’m afraid of sleeping? … I’m scared of sleeping and waking to find myself in a strange land whose language I can’t speak. I’m scared I won’t wake up.” —Elias…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland June 19, 2015

Prime Minister Netanyahu at the first Knesset session following the 2015 elections (photo: Haim Tzach, Government Press Office)

What to expect from Netanyahu’s fourth government

The new government, which could survive longer than most observers expect, intends to resume the implementation of the Prawer Plan, aimed to force the Bedouin Palestinian population in the “unrecognized villages” into a narrow territory. Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth government was sworn in in the nick of time. Due to last-minute controversies over cabinet positions, President Reuven Rivlin…

By Noam Sheizaf May 15, 2015

Bedouins and other activists shout slogans during a protest against the Israeli government's Prawer Plan, on road 31 near Hura, Israel, on November 30, 2013.

So we meet again, Prawer Plan

In 2013, when the government shelved a plan to displace thousands of Bedouin from their villages, we rejoiced. Now, less than two years on, it’s back on the table. And so is our struggle. By Huda Abu Obeid The following is what I wrote in December 2013, when then Minister Benny Begin suspended the Prawer Plan,…

By +972 Magazine May 11, 2015

A resident of al-Araqib approaches Israeli police during one of the dozens of times authorities demolished the unrecognized village. (Activestills.org)

Supreme Court gives al-Araqib the right to fight for its land

As far as the state was concerned, not only do the indigenous people of the Negev have no right to land, they didn’t even have the right to argue in court that they do. The Supreme Court rejects that position. By Michal Rotem For years, the battleground of the Negev Bedouin in Israel has existed…

By +972 Magazine April 13, 2015

A man from the Zanoun family sits next to the ruins of his house a few hours after it was demolished in the unrecognized bedouin village of Wadi Al Na'am, Negev Desert, May 18, 2014. A women with her 5 children, the oldest of them is 5 years old, were living in the house demolished by the Israeli Land Administration. Wadi Al-am is the largest unrecognized village in Israel, with estimated 13,000 residents, most of them are internally displaced. The village is not connected to electricity. (Activestills.org)

How many cars does it take for a Bedouin village to vote?

While the majority of Jewish Israelis will have no problem voting on election day, some Bedouin will be forced to travel up to 40 kilometers simply to participate in Israel’s democracy. By Khalil Alamour and Amjad Iraqi In the run-up to every election day in Israel, polling stations are set up in various locations in…

By Amjad Iraqi March 13, 2015

A Jahalin Bedouin girl stands near the Khan al-Ahmar Mixed Primary School which is under demolition orders by Israeli authorities. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Israel, state of all its victims

Like the failed peace process or the policy of severing Gaza from the West Bank, the plight of the Bedouin in Israel is one more long-term problem that there is just no time to solve. Two Israeli sisters, 10 and 13, were wounded yesterday by Hamas rocket fire in the Negev. One of them is…

By Dahlia Scheindlin July 15, 2014