Middle East Monitor / October 28, 2021
Israeli occupation authorities have demolished the Palestinian Bedouin village of Al-Araweeb in the Naqab/Negev for the 194th time today.
The head of the People’s Committee for the Defence of Al-Araqeeb, Ahmed Khalil Abu Madigham, told Arab48 that “the Israeli authorities have continued the crimes of demolishing the homes of Al-Araqeeb residents, as they stormed the village and demolished its tents.”
He called for “support [for] Al-Araqeeb and stand by its people in the face of uprooting and displacement plans,” stressing that “all the authorities’ practices will not deter us from staying steadfast on our land.”
The village was last razed on 30 September and this is the twelfth time it has been demolished this year. Members of the Yoav police unit of the so-called “Negev Development Authority” responsible for carrying out house demolitions in Palestinian towns in the Naqab, and the so-called “Israel Lands Administration” continue to storm the village.
The village was first levelled in July 2010, and every time the residents of Al-Araqeeb rebuild their tents and small homes, occupation forces return to raze them, sometimes several times in a month.
Located in the Naqab desert, the village is one of 51 “unrecognized” Palestinian villages in the area and is constantly targeted for demolition ahead of plans to Judaize the Naqab by building homes for new Jewish communities. Israeli bulldozers, which Bedouins are charged for, demolish everything, from the trees to the water tanks, but Bedouin residents have tried to rebuild it every time.
Bedouin in the Naqab must abide by the same laws as Jewish Israeli citizens. They pay taxes but do not enjoy the same rights and services as Jews in Israel and the state has repeatedly refused to connect the towns to the national grid, water supplies, and other vital amenities.
