BE'ER SHEVA - Hundreds of protesters took part in a demonstration organized Thursday afternoon by the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages along the stretch of road between the southern cities of Be'er Sheva and Dimona.
“Don’t demolish us – recognize us,” the protest leaders demanded.
Notably, some Bedouins in southern Israel live in communities that are not recognized by the State and are therefore deprived of basic amenities. Protesters charged that the government has adopted a harsher attitude towards Bedouins under the guise of the disengagement plan.
In particular, the group was protesting a plan by the government and the Israel Lands Authority to demolish 160 non-zoned homes in the village of Bir al-Mashash.
Knesset Member Taleb el-Sana (United Arab List) and other public figures – as well as, for the first time, Bedouin women – took part in the demonstration.
“For years the government of Israel has been building on the Israeli side and demolishing on the Bedouin side,” El-Sana said. “If this government stupid policy continues, it’ll cause an intifada that will rip off the roof (of the country).”
He accused the government of denying the Bedouin “their basic rights in order to force them of their lands. The Bedouin are citizens and not enemies, but if the government continues along its current path, the situation will change.”
El-Sana told Ynet, “This is an angry protest, but restrained compared to the protests of the Right. If women take part, it means that the policy of house demolitions went too far."
“The government provides alternative solutions for the settlers, but the Bedouins just get demolition. The government acts like the Bedouin are enemies, and that might turn them into enemies.”
Demanding a solution
He added that the government has not come up with a development plan for the Bedouin – noting that the country could absorb a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union in a few years, but could not find a solution for 80,000 people in 50 years.
“It’s pure racism because if Jews were living in these communities the problems would have been solved a long time ago,” he said.
The organizer of the demonstration and the chairman of the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages, Hassin al-Rafia, said unilateral government solutions have all failed: “The only way to solve the problem is through negotiation. We are calling upon Sharon to come and talk to the village heads because the time has come to solve the problem.”