Al Arakib update: Four consecutive days of demolitions

From the Negev Coexistence Forum (NCF)

Last week brought four consecutive days of demolitions in Al Arakib. For the first time on February 9 we witnessed bulldozers clearly marked as belonging to the Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL), destroying tents that had been erected overnight by the residents. The JNF can no longer claim to have no involvement in the repeated destruction of Al Arakib.

On the fourth day there were violent clashes between the residents and the police who responded with a heavy hand and resorted to the use of tear gas, pepper spray and sponge tipped bullets despite the fact that there were women and children in the crowd. Several residents were hurt with many refusing to go to the hospital. Three residents (including a youth) and three activists, including Gadi Algazi, were also arrested in the scuffle. The minor and three activists were released soon after, however, the two residents were detained and their hearing is set for today. All three activists were ordered not to enter the village for two weeks.

Many of the women and children continue to live in the cemetery which is still untouched and some returned to where the village formerly stood to rebuild temporary structures after each demolition.

The JNF is continuing to prepare the ground in the village for planting through building mounds of earth for the young trees, levelling areas and digging dams.

Following this week of conflict, the Negev Coexistence Forum in collaboration with the Recognition Forum and others held a solidarity visit in Al Arakib on Saturday, February 12. We enjoyed a strong turn out with approximately 150 people attending to show their support for the residents who continue to show their resilience.

Here are some interesting links from the past week:

• Video footage of the protest held front of the JNF office in Jerusalem on January 1;
• The Forward – A JNF Drive to Make the Desert Bloom Means Destruction for a Bedouin Village, dated February 9;
• Video footage of a KKL-JNF bulldozer demolishing a tent in Al Arakib on February 9;
• Video footage of resident-police clashes in Al Arakib on Thursday, February 10;
• Haartez article about the Christian network, God TV, planting activities in cooperation with the Jewish National Fund (in Hebrew), dated February 11;
• Press release issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, dated February 11. During a meeting on February 8, the High Commissioner was briefed about the ongoing demolitions of unrecognised villages in the Negev.  In the press release, Navi Pillay expresses her concern of the repeated destruction and after meeting one man who told her his village had just been demolished for the 15th time, she sent two members of her team to visit.