Against a Forced Solution. By Dr. Thabet Abus Ras Director of Adalah's Naqab (Negev) Project Op-Ed published by Yediot Aharonot, 12 September 2011 (Hebrew)
Yesterday, 11 September 2011, the government of Israel approved by an overwhelming majority the "Prawer Plan" for regulating Arab Bedouin settlement in the Naqab (Negev). This plan, which was formulated without the participation of the Arab Bedouin, was shelved more than two months ago by the government due to pressure by right-wing parties which claimed that it allegedly "benefitted" the Arab Bedouin and "offered them a great deal of land for free".
The deliberation of the plan was renewed after it was "revised" by the Chairman of the National Security Council, Major General (res.) Ya'akov Amidror. According to reports in the press, Amidror's revisions specify a reduction of approximately 50% in the expanse of land offered to the Arab Bedouin under the Prawer Plan. Therefore, the Arab Bedouin are paying the price for the "appeasement" of [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman and the right-wing parties. An additional message being sent is that the issue of Arab Bedouin land is not a civil issue but one that concerns national security considerations in Israel.
The Prawer Plan and Amidror's revisions deepen the conflict with the Arab Bedouin and make it impossible to solve the problem of land and settlement in the Naqab.
Even worse, the appointment of the [Strategic Affairs] Minister [Moshe] Ya'alon to be responsible on behalf of the government for the implementation of the plan on the ground is a staggering, outrageous decision that sends a wrong message, and precisely indicates the way in which the government choses to solve the problem. What is most needed in the Naqab today is an authority figure who will open a dialogue with the Arab Bedouin on the nature of a solution and its implementation, and not a person who is specialized in the planning of military operations for the conquest of a target. The government's decision does not leave a shadow of a doubt that the state is forcing a solution on the Arab Bedouin in a framework in which they will lose most of their land claims. This solution will lead to the uprooting of over 40,000 persons from their homes and will bring about the destruction of whole villages. The Arab Bedouin, against their will, are presented with forced urbanization while at the same time any Jewish citizen who lives in the Naqab has available to him various types of habitation including residence in a city, a community settlements and even on an individual family farm. The principles for establishing and recognizing new settlements or communities in Israel were determined in the National Master Plan 35 (TAMA 35). It appears from the plan approved by the government, that it proposes different principles for the granting of recognition to the unrecognized Arab Bedouin villages. Why not impose the same standards on all citizens of Israel? The plan in its current format will not be upheld by the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, all of this is taking place on the background of the wave of protests that is sweeping the country demanding social justice for all of the people. The irony is that while a government committee, the Trachtenberg Committee, is visiting tent encampments in various Israeli towns, the government of Israel chose to treat one group of citizens in a different way, only because of their national origin, and to force an arrangement on them without consulting with them beforehand.
The social and political unrest among the Arab Bedouin is growing. It is deepening the existing split and harming the relations between Jews and Arabs in the state. Anyone who holds hope that this issue will fade and that the Arab Bedouin will accept a solution that does not ensure that their land and cultural rights will be protected is mistaken. In addition, the moral fiber of any state is tested, among other things, by its equal treatment of minorities who live within it, and the question is whether the state of Israel has relented on this matter? The issue of the Arab Bedouin and their land is becoming, from day to day, an international issue. Only two weeks ago a UN report rejected the position of the state of Israel which claimed that the Arab Bedouin are not "indigenous people". The state of Israel ignores the historical rights of the Arab Bedouin and the international conventions it signed relating to the rights of minorities and indigenous people. It would be best if the government shelved the Prawer Plan and opened negotiations with the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab aimed at finding a solution to their problems and the guarantee of full equal rights and social justice for all.
