On Monday morning, the Israeli authorities demolished the tents of Al-Arakib Village in the Negev for the 236th time. The “unrecognized and threatened village,” faces ongoing displacement, destruction and eviction.
The first demolition by Israeli authorities occurred on July 27, 2010. The previous demolition took place on October 13 of last year.
The residents of Al-Arakib are steadfast in their determination to stay on their land. They continuously rebuild their tents from wood and nylon to protect themselves from the scorching summer heat and harsh winter cold. This persistence is in defiance of plans to uproot and displace them.
Israeli authorities pursue the residents of Al-Arakib through various methods, including the imprisonment of Sheikh Sayah Al-Turi and several of his sons and grandsons, along with activist Salim Al-Turi and others, under the pretext of building without permits and claiming “seizure of state land.”
The authorities have imposed heavy fines on the residents and continue policies of harassment, abductions, and restrictions.
The Israeli authorities refuse to recognize their right to the land, aiming to force them into displacement by demolishing the village, razing agricultural crops, and preventing access to grazing lands and livestock farming.
Currently, Al-Arakib is home to 22 families, totaling around 86 individuals. They rely on livestock breeding and desert agriculture for their livelihood.
In the 1970s, the residents managed to prove their ownership of 1,250 dunams of land, out of thousands of dunams, according to Israeli laws and conditions.
In late January 2019, the then Israel’s Minister of Agriculture and “Development of the Negev”, Uri Ariel, has completed a massive plan to expel some 36,000 Bedouin Palestinians from their “unrecognized” villages, although they predate Israel.
It is important to mention that the village of Al-Arakib, in the Negev region of the occupation state of Israel, has now been demolished 236 times since it was first demolished on July 27, 2010.
The village, unrecognized by the Israeli state, is under the constant threat of displacement, in fact the villagers have suffered ten demolitions since the beginning of 2024.
At least half of the 240,000 Arab residents of the Negev desert, live in villages and Bedouin camps, some of which have been in place for hundreds of years.
While the occupation authorities refuse to recognize their ownership of the lands and deny them the basic services such as water and electricity, with the aim of forcibly displacing them.
