For you will be ashamed of the terebinths that you have taken pleasure in.
July 28, 2010 1:33 AM   Subscribe

Israeli authorities have "reportedly" razed a Bedouin village in Negev.

Although the Bedouin had lived in the area for half a millenia before the establishment of Israel in 1948, Israel considers them unrecognized villages.

The reasoning behind this action may be the Blueprint Negev.

Removing the Bedouin would also solve environmental concerns as advocated by academic environmentalist, Tal Alon.

Or it may just be that Israel likes razing everything.
posted by hal_c_on (18 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: I believe it is understood that topics such as these need to be framed much more carefully in order to succeed. -- vacapinta



 
2 wikipedia links and an academic bio to beef up a tragic story, capped off with a bizarre and inflammatory editorial statement?

FPP fail, my friend. Let the tragedy speak for itself & make your links such that its scope is clarified.
posted by felix betachat at 1:42 AM on July 28, 2010


There is an interesting post to be written about the Bedouin and their situation in the Negev. But this isn't it.
posted by quarsan at 1:46 AM on July 28, 2010


Why is reportedly in square quotes? Was this reported or wasn't it?
posted by Justinian at 2:02 AM on July 28, 2010


You had me there until your final sentence hal_c_on. That was unhelpful.

Let's see if it can be saved. In your link "environmental concerns" it says:

Naqab Arabs share some 2,5% of the desert with Israel’s nuclear resactors, 22 agro and petrochemical factories, an oil terminal, closed military zones, quarries, a toxic waste incinerator, cell towers, a power plant, several airports, a prison, and 2 rivers of open sewage.
And yet, according to the November 10th weekend edition of Ma’ariv, the widest read Israeli daily

Israel’s 10 major polluters include industrial polluters, wealthy contractors, waste dumps and the indigenous Bedoiun of the Negev/Naqag Desert.


That last sentence. One of these things is not like the others.
posted by three blind mice at 2:06 AM on July 28, 2010


[Further Derail] Square quotes? Punctuation that designate the term as old-fashioned, perhaps? [/Further Derail]
posted by Neale at 2:08 AM on July 28, 2010


These homes were built on government land. In other places in the world they are known as squatters. In Samaria homes were also destroyed just the day before, amazingly, no mention of this in the MSM.
posted by watercarrier at 2:10 AM on July 28, 2010


Here is some background: - The Negev Bedouin photographs. The Israeli campaign to rid the Negev of the Bedouin has been going on since the 1950's. Some reports state that they date back 7000 years. Here is a detailed account of Bedouin Unrecognized Villages of the Negev Also in recent new Israel Camel Racing May Suffer for Lack of Humps.
posted by adamvasco at 2:12 AM on July 28, 2010 [3 favorites]


Why is reportedly in square quotes? Was this reported or wasn't it?

Did you mean scare quotes?
posted by delmoi at 2:17 AM on July 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


Yes, yes I did. Thank you and good night!
posted by Justinian at 2:20 AM on July 28, 2010


Also, it seems like -- although this has not been mentioned yet -- that this was done against Israeli Arabs not, Palestinians. That is, non-jewish citizens of Israel, as opposed to non-settlers in the occupied territories. Lately it seems like the pressure has been turned up on them as well.
posted by delmoi at 2:21 AM on July 28, 2010


pick a reason to flag: I/P conflict poorly framed
posted by fixedgear at 2:25 AM on July 28, 2010


delmoi: This just serves to strengthen my theory that the Israeli extreme-right is not even remotely after peace with the Palestinians, but out for revenge against any underdog it can lay its hands on (i.e. the neighboring Arab communities) so that it can finally find some catharsis after recent (as well as thousands-year-old) wounds that still mark their family memories. Having been raised Jewish, I can confirm that there are a lot of efforts by the conservative Jewish community to teach children that the Palestinians are barely people, that they are fully responsible for all violence that befalls the area, and that they will stop at nothing until Israel is destroyed. If the Israeli government's actions seem, dare I say it, fascist, I strongly believe that it is no coincidence.
posted by Mooseli at 2:39 AM on July 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


There's no good reason to use Biblical quotes to illustrate things like this unless you're trying to imply a religious motive for Israel's actions.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:42 AM on July 28, 2010


that this was done against Israeli Arabs not, Palestinians.

From adamvasco's "Bedouin Unrecognized Villages of the Negev" link:

The 45 villages represented in RCUVN have a total population of 76,000 inhabitants, and the villages range in size from 500 to almost 5,000 residents. The population forms a part of the indigenous Palestinian people who today comprise approximately 19%, one million of the total citizens of Israel. This group of village residents in the Negev (traditionally, "Naqab") Region are deprived of their municipal services and representation, which are the domain of State agencies and "national institutions" managed by Jewish citizens exclusively.
posted by three blind mice at 2:49 AM on July 28, 2010


Was this reported or wasn't it?

It was reported. Not only that, it was actually reported worldwide this time, instead of ignored the way it usually is.

This has been going on for a very long time, and it's a shame this was such a badly framed post because the story really is worth talking about and exploring. The Bedouin Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages have been trying to pressure the Israeli government into leaving them alone for over a decade. As delmoi points out, they are Israeli Arabs living what Israel claimed as park lands, not Palestinians living in Gaza or the West Bank.

This was an illegal settlement. The government issued an order to have the village razed. The Village appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court and won a stay. The Israeli government razed it any way. There are clear parallels to the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories -- yet the Israeli government has not only been turning a blind eye to those, but has even encouraged them. So the argument that the village is illegal (which obviously is not accepted by the Bedouin who have lived there for generations) and deserved destruction is hypocritical at best if Israel isn't acting against illegal Jewish settlements which are on Palestinian land.

I think this Tikkun Olam entry was unfortunately biased, (can it be ethnic cleansing if no one is killed?) but it's still the best reporting I've seen on what happened. Includes a link to an interview with an eyewitness activist.

Also:
Inexplicably and even more horrifically, CNN is reporting that eyewitnesses say the police brought busloads of Israeli Jews who cheered the destruction. Is this really possible? Or is this a sick joke? Is this what Israel is coming to when the State buses in cheerleaders for its policies of Bedouin ethnic cleansing
I sincerely hope this isn't true. Sickening. :(
posted by zarq at 3:01 AM on July 28, 2010 [3 favorites]


Of the 7 links posted, the 2 wiki links are there so that people can find out about "Negev" and "Bedouin" without me stating it (which I guess people don't like to click on before they comment).

I read every one of the links. You fucked up and derailed your own post.

Next time, don't editorialize.
posted by zarq at 3:05 AM on July 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


So is there any country that doesn't treat it's minority nomadic population like crap? I wonder if there's a model country we should be following because so far it isn't anywhere in Europe or the US or Israel, apparently. I know Israel has it's specific issues as well which must make it worse. I just can't imagine what possible threat a small nomadic group could pose to the fabric of society. Catharsis doesn't explain it in other countries, why would it in Israel.
posted by shinybaum at 3:05 AM on July 28, 2010


The Hassidic website Save the Negev has some splendid pictures of villages being razed and green lawns on an arid desert.
posted by shii at 3:07 AM on July 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


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