NAQAB, October 25, 2017 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities on Wednesday demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Naqab desert in southern Israel for 120th time.
Staff from the Israel Land Authority accompanied by Israeli police and bulldozers broke into the village and demolished the metal shelters residents build every time their village is demolished.
The first demolition of al-Araqib took place in late June 2010.
Al-Araqib is one of 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by the Israeli government.
According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), more than half of the approximately 160,000 Naqab Bedouins reside in unrecognized villages, which Israel refuses to provide with a planning structure and place under municipal jurisdiction.
ACRI said the Israeli government uses a variety of measures to pressure Bedouins into relocating to government-planned urban centers that disregard their lifestyle and needs.
“Whole communities have been issued demolition orders; others are forced to continue living in unrecognized villages that are denied basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water,” said the center.
M.N./M.K.
