Bedouin Authority withdraws plans for 'displacement camps' in the Naqab amid objections; Adalah warns that peril still stands
On 10 November 2021, the Southern District Planning and Building Committee announced it accepted the request of the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev (“the Bedouin Authority”) to withdraw two plans entitled "Temporary Solutions for Housing and Public Buildings for the Bedouin Population in the Negev", and cancelled them. This development followed objections lead in the past two years by Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
According to the Bedouin Authority, the stated purpose of these plans – originally drafted in October 2019 – was “to provide temporary housing solutions for the unregulated Bedouin population”. The plans authorized the construction of refugee displacement camps, within the existing recognized localities in the Naqab for a period of up to six years, where Bedouin communities forcibly transferred from unrecognized localities without alternative housing solutions would be concentrated. The housing units were to be placed in extremely close proximity to one another, in seemingly inhumane conditions and without adequate infrastructure.
CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s position paper The Illegality of Israel’s Plan to Transfer Palestinian Bedouin Citizens of the State into ‘Refugee Displacement Camps’ in the Naqab (Negev), December 2019
The “temporary housing” plans followed the January 2019 announcement by the Bedouin Authority of a plan to forcibly displace and transfer 36,000 Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel in order to clear the area for “economic projects” and the expansion of live-fire training areas for the Israeli military. In order to approve the plans for these projects, including a special industrial area in Ramat Beka, the relevant officials were not required to present residential solutions to the planning committee for residents who are in danger of evacuation and displacement because of these projects.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Israel’s announcement in 2019 to forcibly transfer thousands of Bedouins
Adalah and other groups, filed an objection when the outline plans were first presented in 2019, but the district planning committee approved their conditional submission. However, no changes had been made to the plans since then.
CLICK HERE to read more about Adalah’s initial objection in 2019
In advance of a scheduled hearing of the plans before the District Committee on 8 November 2021, Adalah sent a letter to the Committee demanding that they be rejected. On 4 November 2021, Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara submitted the letter on behalf of the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev (RCUV), Shatil, the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF), the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP), the Good Neighbors Project in Arad, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). In the letter, Adalah argued that the plans should be rejected outright because they violate the basic rights of the Bedouin residents of the Naqab, including the right to life of equality and dignity. Additionally, the organizations indicated that the outline plans should be repealed according to the Israel’s Planning and Building Law, 1965, as more than two years have passed since the decision to conditionally deposit the plans.
CLICK HERE to read the letter [Hebrew]
During the recent hearing, the Bedouin Authority requested to withdraw the original plans, citing difficulties in meeting the conditions set by the Committee when the plans were initially deposited. Representatives of the Bedouin Authority also claimed that they have an alternative plan that would fulfill the same purpose, but have not yet completed preparation of this plan in order to present it before the Committee. The Committee issued its decision to cancel the plans after a closed discussion, and stated that while it recognizes the need for temporary housing solutions, they should fall within a timeframe for permanent ones.
CLICK HERE to read the Committee’s decision [Hebrew]
Adalah notes that since the Bedouin Authority initiated the original plans, more “temporary housing” schemes have begun to appear in other local outline plans submitted by the Authority. Therefore, the recent cancellation of these specific plans still does not guarantee that the Palestinian Bedouin population living in the unrecognized villages is safe from this scheme or a similar one.
Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara stated:
"Every reasonable person understands that the planned construction of densely-populated slums, with inhumane conditions and lacking proper infrastructure, is likely to lead to a social catastrophe. The clear purpose of these plans is to expedite and streamline the state’s plan to forcibly displace tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel from their homes, and to reduce their living spaces; these plans are a cause of extreme concern as long as they exist in any form. They should also be viewed in the context of recent announcements regarding the accelerated establishment of new settlements exclusively for Israeli Jewish citizens in the area. This move is the ultimate realization of the vision underlining the Jewish Nation-State Law: residential neighborhoods and localities for Israeli Jews, refugee camps for Palestinian Arab citizens.”
Related press releases
IN-DEPTH REPORT: Israel to establish refugee displacement camps for tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin citizens 10 December 2019
UN human rights experts raise grave concerns about Israel’s planned forced displacement of Bedouin 11 July 2019
