Israel: End Systematic Bias Against Bedouin

[subsuelo]

Stop Demolishing Homes, Remedy Discriminatory Land Allocation

(Jerusalem, March 31, 2008) – Israel should declare an immediate moratorium on demolitions of Bedouin homes and create an independent commission to investigate pervasive land and housing discrimination against its Bedouin citizens in the Negev, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The 130-page report, "Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s Unrecognized Bedouin Villages" documents how discriminatory Israeli laws and practices force tens of thousands of Bedouin in the south of Israel to live in “unrecognized” shanty towns where they are under constant threat of seeing their homes demolished and their communities torn apart.

Human Rights Watch based its findings on interviews conducted in 13 unrecognized Bedouin villages and three government-planned Bedouin townships in the Negev. It interviewed dozens of Bedouin residents, as well as activists, community organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academics, and lawyers in Israel. Human Rights Watch submitted a detailed letter to the government in 2007 with preliminary findings and questions, and incorporated relevant information from the Ministry of Justice’s response into the report.

“Israeli policies have put the Bedouin in a lose-lose situation,” said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The state has forced them off the land they claimed as their own and into illegal shanty towns, cut off from basic necessities like water and electricity.”

Israel has demolished thousands of Negev Bedouin homes since the 1970s, and hundreds in 2007 alone. Authorities say that 45,000 existing Bedouin homes in approximately 39 “unrecognized” villages were built illegally and thus potential targets for demolition. Israeli officials contend that they are simply enforcing zoning and building codes. But Human Rights Watch found that officials systematically demolish Bedouin homes while often overlooking or retroactively legalizing unlawful construction by Jewish citizens.

While the Bedouin suffer an acute need for adequate housing and for new (or recognized) residential communities, the state instead is developing new homes and communities for Jewish citizens even though some of the more than 100 existing Jewish communities in the Negev sit half-empty. In theory, any citizen can apply to live in these Negev communities, but in practice selection committees screen applicants and accept people based on undefined notions of “suitability” that systematically exclude Bedouin.

“Israel is willing and able to build new Negev towns for Jewish Israelis seeking a rural way of life, but not for the people who have lived and worked this land for generations,” Stork said. “This is grossly unfair.”

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[Pappy]

1. Ah yes, the Neocon's at work

We all know the Neocon agenda, and we know all the well that Israel's agenda is to make Israel bigger and bigger while taking all the land for themselves and driving the Arabs out of that region.

[On the Road]

2. Supporting Israeli Hegemony Goes Back Well Before the Neocons

And includes just as many Democrats as Republicans. The last president who could claim to be impartial was Eisenhower, who made Israel give back the land they seized in the Sinai in 1956.

[LeftishBrit]

4. I always question the use of 'Neocons' for non-American righties

As I understand, a "neocon" means an American who supports a hawkish, imperialist foreign policy, and who may or may not be right-wing on other issues.

Israeli, British, etc. righties may collaborate with American neocons, but are not quite the same thing.

'Israel's agenda is to make Israel bigger and bigger while taking all the land for themselves and driving the Arabs out of that region.'

Right-wing Israelis (which doesn't mean all Israelis) are keen to cling to the land they have now, and maintain the occupation. But except for some serious nutters, they don't really expect to be able to 'make Israel bigger and bigger'.

And, not that it excuses the Israelis, but the Arabs (notably in Egypt, where there are many Bedouin) don't treat the Bedouin terribly well either.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. I'm very glad you brought up that *but* in yr last paragraph...

I still have to learn to temper my criticism of Israel by saying it doesn't excuse Israel, but....and then finding another country that does something similar and pointing to them. Or to make things even more balanced, I could start popping in on OPs that are critical of the Palestinians and going 'Not that this excuses the Palestinians, but (insert name of other country here) do it too.'

[LeftishBrit]

6. If one is attacking the oppression of the Bedouin, I think one has to look at it in its entirety

'I could start popping in on OPs that are critical of the Palestinians and going 'Not that this excuses the Palestinians, but (insert name of other country here) do it too.''

Well, why not? I don't think that either Israelis or Palestinians - or any group for that matter should be treated as uniquely evil; and I also think that with any social problem or injustice, one can learn something from how the problem is dealt with or not dealt with.

To get back to the original topic: anyone concerned about the problems of the Bedouin in Israel might consider supporting organizations which are pressing for changes in this respect. Two organizations that I support, which are involved in this as well as other issues, are the New Israel Fund and the British Shalom-Salaam Trust.

www.newisraelfund.org

www.bsst.org.uk

[Violet_Crumble]

7. Looking at something in it's entirety is a bit more than 'but someone else does it too!' one-liners

It's just that I've seen you do this quite a few times when it comes to criticism of Israel, but never when it comes to criticism of Palestinians, that's all. I just want to get a bit of that Both Sides Do It vibe going ;)

I've already read up on the treatment of Bedouin in Israel, but thanks for posting those links for anyone who hasn't...

[LeftishBrit]

8. Fine; I wouldn't object to more of it on both sides...

(and it's usually not just Both Sides Do It, but sadly The Whole World Does It);

and, BTW, while I may perhaps not have done this SPECIFICALLY with regard to Palestinians, I have certainly done so several times with regard to people implying that terrorism is a specifically Muslim/Islamist phenomenon. I have pointed out repeatedly that the UK experienced quite a bit of Christian sectarian terrorism until very recently.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Well seeing you've got one side well and truly covered...

I guess I could add what I consider to be an attempt to temper criticism with a SPECIFIC 'yep. that's bad, but (insert name of some other country here) do it too' thing, but do I find it rather silly, and I doubt I've got the longetivity to carry it off for all that long :)

[LeftishBrit]

3. The Bedouin do get a very raw deal from both Israel and Egypt

Their situation needs much more recognition.