Adalah and NGO Partners Urge Ambassadors in Israel to Take Action against Demolition and Displacement of the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab

(Tel Aviv, Israel) On 6 December 2011, Adalah, together with the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (Dukium) and the Regional Council of the Unrecognized Villages (RCUV), held a briefing for ambassadors on Israeli government policies of home demolitions and forced displacement in the Naqab (Negev). The briefing was hosted by Ambassador Mr. Walter Haffner of the Embassy of Switzerland, and was attended by Ambassadors and political officers from Germany, Turkey, South Africa, Argentina, Norway, the Slovak Republic, Mexico, Sweden, and the European Union. The director of Adalah's Naqab office, Dr. Thabet Abu Ras, and Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara represented the organization at the briefing.

Dr. Abu Ras opened the briefing by providing a general historical and geo-political overview of the situation in the Naqab and the State of Israel's policies against its Arab Bedouin citizens. He explained the major elements of the Prawer Report, the most recent governmental policy document regarding the land claims of the Arab Bedouin, and emphasized that the embassies can play a critical role in halting this devastating plan, which may dispossess and uproot 40,000 Arab Bedouin from the unrecognized villages.

Attorney Suhad Bishara, head of Adalah's Land and Planning Unit, provided a legal analysis of the Arab Bedouin land claims relying on archival data and aerial footage. She highlighted the case of the unrecognized village of Umm el-Hieran, that is threatened by demolition and evacuation, and alerted the Ambassadors to important cases pending in the Israeli courts and land planning authorities concerning these issues. See Adalah's Press Release (6 December 2011) about the cancellation of all home demolition orders in the unrecognized village of Alsira.

Haia Noach, the director of Dukium, spoke about afforestation in the Naqab, and particularly the Ambassadors Forest that has been planted on the lands of the unrecognized village of Al-Araqib. Mr. Khalil Alamour, the spokesperson and a resident of the unrecognized village of Alsira village, shared a personal testimony about the implications of "unrecognition" and displacement on Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel living in unrecognized villages. Following the presentations, Dr. Abu Ras, Ms. Noach, and Attorney Farid Alatawna of the RCUV took questions from the Ambassadors and representatives.

See pictures of the briefing here