Pages

Search This Blog

Monday, May 11, 2015

Bedouin village razed 83 times must pay $500,000 for demolitions, Israel says

Bedouin village razed 83 times must pay $500,000 for demolitions, Israel says

The unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Araqib was in court Wednesday, where the state of Israel argued the southern desert town must pay $500,000 [2 million Israeli Shekels] to cover the cost of demolitions, and more than 1,000 police deployed to carry out the destruction. Since 2010 al-Araqib has been razed to the ground 83 times, more than any other locality in Israel.
In Israel around half of the Bedouin population, 90,000 Arab-Palestinians herders [who are citizens of Israel], live in towns the state does not view as legitimate. Without “recognition,” these villages are pre-approved for demolition. In al-Araqib’s case additional legal battles over land ownership prompted Israel to issue the entire desert hamlet the mass eviction order. The state claims it legally expropriated the territory using Ottoman code still on the books during the 1950s. Al-Araqib’s residents still have copies of their old deeds and say they are valid and up to date.

No comments: