Israel demolishes entire village for fifth time, immediately after holiday; UPDATED with video

From the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, all photos by Oren Ziv of activestills.org

The Bedouin unrecognized village of Al Arakib was demolished this morning for the 5th time,immediately after Eid Al-Fitr (one of the most important Muslim holidays marking the end of Ramadan). The village is located 7 kilometers north of the city of Be’er Sheva, in the Israeli Negev Desert. Dozens of policemen came to the village before dawn to secure the bulldozers which started to destroy the tents and the all other structures in the village.

Since 27th of July, when the first demolition of the village occurred, the state of Israel has destroyed the village another four times: August 4th. August 10th, August 17th at the beginning of Ramadan and today, after Ramadan’s end.  The residents of the village tried to resist with no success and then stood with their children, watching their houses crashing down. They were left in the middle of the
desert without water or food.

The Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF) demands the Israeli government to stop the home demolitions immediately and to find a fair and reasonable solution for the Bedouin in Al-Arakib and all the other unrecognized villages in Israel. Michal Rotem the spokeperson of NCF said:”The destruction policy which is implemented now will bring only rage and hate and will eventually prevent Israelis Jewish and Arabs from being able to live in the Negev/ Naqab together”.
UPDATED: Video of the destruction.