Local elections for Arab Bedouin in Naqab (Negev) must be set now
Local elections for Arab Bedouin in Naqab (Negev) must be set now
Writing to Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) demanded that elections be immediately scheduled for the two Naqab (Negev) Regional Councils "Wahat al-Sahara" and "Al-Qasoum."
New councils delay local elections for over 10 years
The two Regional Councils were established in 2012 after the government dissolved the Abu Basma Regional Council months before the scheduled election in 2012. The Councils have authority only over Arab Bedouin municipalities in the Naqab. From 2003-2012, the Abu Basma Regional Council was led and filled by Interior Ministry appointees, as the two Regional Councils currently are.
The Abu Basma Regional Council was originally established on 28 December 2003 following years of struggle for the state to recognize Arab Bedouin villages in the Naqab. The Abu Basma Council had jurisdiction and responsibility for infrastructure, education, and environmental quality for 11 recently recognized Arab Bedouin villages and towns, with over 30,000 residents, as well as 40,000 residents of unrecognized villages.
In 2010, seven years later, however elections had still not taken place. Adalah and ACRI filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding elections in Abu Basma. The Supreme Court decided in February 2011 that elections must take place by December 2012, without exception.
However, a few months before the elections deadline, the government split the Abu Basma Regional Council into two, officially cancelling the December election.
Adalah and ACRI: Delay not justified
Attorneys Aram Mahameed of Adalah and Rawiya Abu Rabia' of ACRI argued in their letter that the split does not justify the additional delay. Public confidence in the local elections process has already been undermined by the cancellation of the previous election date, so new elections must be set as soon as possible.
As elections are postponed again and again, the disproportionate violations of the constitutional rights of the residents of the Wahat Al-Sahara and Al-Qasoum Regional Councils, to run for office, to vote, and to equality become even more obvious.
Also read Segmenting the Naqab (Negev): Israel Redistricts to Postpone Local Elections for Arab-Bedouin Citizens, by Dr. Thabet Abu Ras, October 2012
Photo of children gathered over the river of sewage running through the recently recognized town of Umm Batin (population: 5,000), taken by Adalah for World Water Day 2012
