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Yesterday, April 5th, 2009, the *Government of Israel sent tractors to plow in order to destroy the crops of Al-Tori family from the unrecognized Arab-Bedouin village of Al-Aaraqib in the Israeli Negev.* They destroyed about 500 dunams (125 acres) of crops. Sheikh Sayah requested that the police show the legal papers allowing this action – and there were none. About 30 vehicles of police, Green Patrol, Israeli Land Authority inspectors and border police came to protect the tractors as they destroyed the crops. Interestingly they removed the license plates from these tractors…

Today they sent the tractors to plow and destroy the crops on Abu-Mqirh family from the unrecognized Bedouin village of Am-Ratam.

*Why plow? – To destroy the crops.*

The Government of Israel does not view the Arab-Bedouin citizens of Israel as deserving the right to utilize the Negev lands. The government will take extreme measures to prohibit this right. The reasoning: *Making the Negev Bloom – only with Jewish crops…*

The indigenous Bedouin populations were the only people capable of utilizing the Desert land of the Negev, and were its sole inhabitants 100 years ago. Today the gov’t of Israel is battling its Bedouin citizens in order to stop the access of the Bedouins to the last 3% of the Negev land that they are still holding. This the gov’t does by demolishing homes and destroying crops.

The gov’t claims that there is land grabbing… indeed there is – but it is not done by the Bedouins, as the gov’t claims, rather by the Government of Israel itself.

The Bedouin farmers do not receive subsidized agricultural water as the Jewish farmers, so their crops, grown in the desert without irrigation, are very lean. This year was a drought year in the Negev, reducing the crops even more. Despite the little access to land, no access to subsidized agricultural water, and more policies that induce poverty – the gov’t invests in the destruction of crops.

And all of this

*On Behalf of Zionism*

*Water for Agriculture in the Negev – only for the Jews*

*Development of the pasture in Israel – against the Arabs.*

In two articles published recently (in Hebrew, attached) the Government of Israel, and in particular the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Shalom Simhon, make cynical use Zionist rhetoric, in order to pursue the development of Jewish agriculture, and at the same time destroy the option of agriculture for Israel’s Arab citizens.

Quoting from one of the articles:

*Mekorot, the national water company is constructing a plant to pump restored sewer water … at Shoqet Junction. The sewer water of Meitar, Karmit, Laqiya, and Hura… will be pumped to water the agricultural crops in the vicinity.*

This sounds great.

I know of many villages in the vicinity of Shoqet Junction: Al-Qrein, A-Sayed, Saawa, Amra-Tarabin, Al-Baht, Al-Mekimen, Awajan, Im-El-Hiran, Atir, Twail Abu-Jarwal, Al-Masudia, Hirbat al-Watan, Tla-Rashid, Al-Ghara, Um-Batin. All are no more than 10 kms (7 miles) from Shoqet Junction, and in these villages most of the residents find their major income from agriculture. This is wonderful – at long last they will be able to purchase agriculturally priced water, and will be able to water their fields.

However, the article goes on to explain:

*The plant will be called Sekhel plant, using the acronyms of the kibbutzim: Shomria, Karmia and Lahav, the future recipients of the restored water.*

And:

*50 million Shekels will be invested in the building of this plant. … The pipes will reach the fields of Shomria, 15 kms away.*

*Why only to Jewish agriculture???*

The cynicism is unbelievable: the towns from which the water will be taken are mostly Bedouin towns. In Israel citizens pay partially (through municipal taxes) for the restoration of their sewer. Further, the town of Karmit, from which the sewer water will be taken, has not yet been established… but is one of the scores of rural towns planned in the Negev, to Jew-adise the Negev.

The Israeli Land Authority rents land for agriculture to Bedouins in the Negev for the duration of three months – the rainy season, without certainty that it will be renewed the next year. This is to make sure that they cannot make any claims to the land. Jewish agriculturalists in the Negev on the other hand receive some of the land on a 50 years renewable basis, and some on an annually or tri-annually renewable basis, with access to water at subsidized agricultural prices (a fraction of the price available for domestic use, or to the Bedouin community for agriculture). Any person with a sense of justice would expect the gov’t to apply similar criteria to the Bedouins and the Jews. In addition, when asked several years ago, why the handful of Bedouins who have access to land do not receive also restored water, the answer was that there was no restored water in the area. And now?

In order to make sure we understand the full reason for not allocating water for Bedouin agriculture, we can read from the second article, published in *The Marker – online*, titled:

*51 Million Shekels will be invested in “preventing the seizure of national lands”*

And it goes on to explain how this will be done:

*The support is intended to finance the development of 350 thousand dunams of open spaces for pasture of cows and sheep… the beef growers in Israel … have superior national importance… it is a national struggle on claiming hold of open spaces… the major battle is going on in the Negev, Galilee and Wadi Ara regions…*

Isn’t it time we stopped viewing the need of Israeli non-Jewish agriculturalists as an attempt to seize national land? Until when will we continue to discriminate and harm non-Jewish citizens in Israel *on behalf of Zionism*?

Raising sheep in pasture is the main source of income of about 20% of the Arab-Bedouins in the Negev. Animal husbandry has been a traditional way of life of the Bedouins. However, the reasons it still persists until today as such an important source of income is due also to Israeli policies towards the Bedouin: The education system is still the worst in Israel, there is high unemployment in the Negev, as with globalization most of the industry has moved out of the country. And to make things worse, Thai laborers are imported to carry out the agricultural work in the Jewish fields.

And beyond all this, the gov’t every year claims – we don’t have pasture area for the seasonal pasture for the Bedouin flocks. But as we can see – for Jewish sheep there is plenty of pasture…

Please write to your local representative or to the Israeli Minister of Agriculture, Shalom Simhon and demand access to resources: land and water for the Bedouins.

fax # +972 3 748 5544

Write to your local representative and demand justice for the Bedouin minority in Israel, or to the Director of Israeli Land Authority, Minister of Housing and Construction, Ariel Atias, and demand the cessation of crop destruction!

fax # +972 2 5824111

Written by Dr. Yeela Raanan, Regional Council for Unrecognized Bedouin Villages in the Negev – RCUV.

For more information: yallylivnat@gmail.com +972 54 7487005