Since October 7, 2023, tens of thousands of Israelis have been forcibly displaced and unable to return to their homes due to threats from Hamas and Hezbollah. And right now, an additional 9,000 Israeli citizens are under imminent risk of displacement, but not because of Hamas or Hezbollah. But because the Israeli government is going to demolish their homes.
These Israeli citizens are Bedouin, and they live in 14 unrecognized villages in the Negev (Naqab in Arabic). The villages, in which they have resided for centuries do not have official authorization from the state because they were excluded from the original master plans of state building in the 1960s. These citizens do not enjoy many of the protections that other Israelis enjoy. They are often not connected to the Israeli electric grid, water systems, and are not protected by, Iron Dome. And because these villages are not recognized by the state, any and all construction there is considered illegal and subject to demolition.
As it stands, these 14 Bedouin villages are not only to be demolished, but replaced with Israeli towns, while the force Bedouin people currently residing there will be forced into an unfamiliar urban environment. Though the state is offering them meager monetary compensation, as a people that have traditionally led a pastoral lifestyle, forcible urbanization all but sets them up for failure and poverty.
One of these villages, where roughly 1,000 Bedouin people currently reside, is called Umm el-Hiran, which the state’s plan will replace with the Jewish town of “Hiran”. Umm el-Hiran has been fighting for state recognition for twenty-two years, and parts of it have been demolished again and again. Most famously, in January of 2017, the Israeli police shot and killed resident Yaqub Musa Abu Qi’an during a protest against demolishing the village. At that same protest, Ayman Odeh, leader of Hadash-Ta’al (the only Arab-Jewish party in the Knesset), was shot in the face by Israeli police with a rubber bullet. The Israeli police claimed he was injured by Bedouin protestors throwing stones. Eyewitness testimony and independent investigations show otherwise.
Just as the residents of Umm el-Hiran stood alongside allies and activists against the forcible demolitions nearly eight years ago, they are now organizing alongside NIF grantee the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages (RCUV) to nonviolently protest the upcoming demolitions. Their plans include bringing activists to engage in protective presence for the villagers, not only in the lead up to November 10th, but also afterwards.
Perhaps most significantly, since October 31, RCUV has organized cultural, educational, and artistic events in the village. There have been village tours (done jointly with Standing Together), film screenings for adults and children, concerts, soccer games, and poetry readings. On November 9, the day before the demolition is scheduled to take place, RCUV is planning a day that they’re calling “Rock Umm el-Hiran,” where from 10 AM until late in the evening, musicians, filmmakers, painters, and photographers will showcase their work, demonstrating non-violent resistance through celebrating arts and culture.
For years now, RCUV, in tandem with Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, another NIF grantee, have been developing a long-term plan that would connect Umm el-Hiran and other villages like it to critical resources based on the needs of the villagers and the requirements of the state. Their program explains how development, state recognition, and planning, done in tandem with the residents of these villages, would create a more sustainable living situation for the Bedouin people in the Negev. But their plans were never accepted or implemented.
Whether it is a celebration of the arts and culture lasting days, a protective presence lasting weeks, or a blueprint for the years to come, NIF is proud to support the organizations and individuals who are working to protect the homes of Bedouin people in the Negev. We will continue to support this community, seeking, alongside them, dignity and equality for all.