Apartheid in Israel: Home to a Palestinian Bedouin community, al-Araqib is deemed an “unrecognized village” by Israel. That gives the authorities an excuse to deprive it and many other Bedouin villages of essential services such as electricity and water. The deprivation is especially acute in al-Araqib. Because their homes have been demolished more than seventy times since 2010, the local Bedouins are forced to live within the confines of the cemetery. Rubble from their old houses has been removed by the authorities but remnants of kitchen and bathroom tiles still litter the ground. Today, the Bedouins have to rely on a well dug in 1913 for water. “Before, we had electricity and water piped to the houses, but the government destroyed the infrastructure,” said resident Sheikh Sayah al-Turi. “We just want tap water like everyone else.” By contrast, water is abundant across the road in the Jewish-only settlement of Givot Bar. Lawns are green in this settlement — even though it is located in the desert. Givot Bar was established ten years ago by the Or Movement. Along with its partner organization, the Jewish National Fund (JNF), the Zionist group is building a network of towns exclusively for Jews. The Or Movement has set the ambitious goal of bringing 600,000 Jews to the Naqab and Galilee regions of present-day Israel by 2020. To achieve this goal, the two organizations are furthering the decades-old project of dispossessing Palestinians. The JNF portrays itself as an environmental group dedicated to afforestation. In reality, it is trying to purge Palestine of the trees and crops best suited to its arid landscapes, at the same time ridding the land of its indigenous communities and their agriculture-based economy. To make way for a eucalyptus plantation it is developing, around 4,500 citrus, fig and olive trees have been uprooted in al-Araqib. Water for the recently planted eucalyptus trees is taken to the area in tanker trucks. Yet the Israeli authorities have forbidden Bedouins from trucking water in to al-Araqib. Tankers and trucks for carrying water have been confiscated during the demolitions of the village. “The government says it is illegal to bring water here, but at the same time, they won’t connect us,” al-Turi said. Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, implements the official policy of cutting off the water supply to Bedouin communities. electronicintifada.net/content/how-israel-forces-bedouins-live-graveyard/13969
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 21:00:17 +0000
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