Israel to relocate 30,000 Bedouins from unrecognized villages

[News_Editor]

Israel to relocate 30,000 Bedouins from unrecognized villages

2011-09-12 10:21:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- The Israeli government on Sunday approved a plan to relocate some 30,000 Bedouins who are living in unrecognized villages in the Negev region to recognized settlements.

As part of the plan, for which the state will allocate 1.2 billion shekel ($334 million), those relocated will receive financial compensation and alternate plots of land, the government said.

"Given the situation that has been created in the Negev, the time has come to act. This started with the previous government and is being decided upon by us," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "A decision must be made for the country and for the development of the Negev and its residents, Jews and Bedouin alike."

The issue of Bedouin communities in Negev has been present since the establishment of Israel. The Bedouins have complained that the lands where their 'illegal' villages are belong to them before the inception of Israel.

"Ownership claims over land will be dealt with in a unified and transparent method to be provided for by law and according to which compensation will be provided for in significant amounts of land and funds", a statement from the Israeli government said. "Thus, for example, every land ownership claim by a claimant who holds land, the status of which will be fully provided for, will receive 50% of the claim, as opposed to the 20% being currently offered."

Some 150 members of the Bedouin community gathered outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on Sunday to protest the decision. A Bedouin representative called the decision "a declaration of war," according to Haaretz newspaper.

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, slammed the government's approval, saying it would result in the uprooting of tens of thousands of people and the demolition of many Bedouin villages. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel also condemned the decision, arguing that the conditions the government sets for recognizing Bedouin villages are prejudicial.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-12

[Pakboong]

"The Bedouin Problem", Has a familar ring to it.

When the ‘Prawer Report’, commissioned by the Israeli government to come up with a ‘solution’ to end the ‘Bedouin problem’, was released in June, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed numerous objections to the report.

[Pakboong]

I am a little disappointed that nobody wants to explain why a forced resettlement of an ethnic minority makes sense. Confiscate their lands and urbanize them in a ghetto for the most fascist reason, "Lebensraum"

I have little idea of what a Bedouin is but my limited understanding is they are an indigenous arab minority who occupied rough farm land in southern Israel. They are basically goat farmers and the land they occupied for hundreds of years is not really that desirable. They simply occupy an amount of land disproportionate to their population.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Pakboong

[flying]

I am a little disappointed that nobody wants to explain why a forced resettlement of an ethnic minority makes sense.

Sadly These folks had basically asked the same question....

[Pakboong]

I am a little disappointed that nobody wants to explain why a forced resettlement of an ethnic minority makes sense.

Sadly These folks had basically asked the same question....

Sad but true.

[Bizz]

Brings to mind American Indians.

[Jingthing]

Confiscate their lands and urbanize them in a ghetto for the most fascist reason, "Lebensraum"

Lebensraum is a Nazi political term. What the Nazis did was kill, deport, or enslave

different peoples for the Nazi ideological purpose of mass land expansion. In this case, didn't notice any reference to killing, deporting (to another nation), or enslaving

Nice try to suggest an equivalency between modern Israeli policies and Nazi Germany. Epic fail though.

No, I am NOT saying this particular Israeli action is a good thing or the right thing to do. I am saying it is not a Nazi thing.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Scott
formatting

[Steely Dan]

It's the same question as you might ask about the Romany in Europe or Aboriginals in Australia. A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds. I know too little about the Bedouins to comment further except I know for a fact some serve in the Israeli army.

[Pakboong]

It's the same question as you might ask about the Romany in Europe or Aboriginals in Australia. A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds. I know too little about the Bedouins to comment further except I know for a fact some serve in the Israeli army.

I don't disagree, but the same could be said of many different ways of life which are not compatible with the general population of a particular country. I did not realize these people are nomads, I was under the impression that they have been on this particular land for quite some time and cetainly since 1948.

[Pakboong]

Confiscate their lands and urbanize them in a ghetto for the most fascist reason, "Lebensraum"

Lebensraum is a Nazi political term. What the Nazis did was kill, deport, or enslave

different peoples for the Nazi ideological purpose of mass land expansion. In this case, didn't notice any reference to killing, deporting (to another nation), or enslaving

Nice try to suggest an equivalency between modern Israeli policies and Nazi Germany. Epic fail though.

No, I am NOT saying this particular Israeli action is a good thing or the right thing to do. I am saying it is not a Nazi thing.

The reference to that particular point regarding "Lebensraum" is the Jewish Virtual Library. I paraphrased but, it is not an original thought nor is it an anti-semetc point.

[Ulysses G.]

I did not realize these people are nomads

noun /ˈbed(ə)win/ 

Bedouin, plural; Bedouins, plural; Beduin, plural; Beduins, plural

1.A nomadic Arab of the desert

Lebensraum:

Meaning "living space," it was a basic principle of Nazi foreign policy. Hitler believed that eastern Europe had to be conquered to create a vast German empire for more physical space, a greater population, and new territory to supply food and raw materials.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Pakboong]

I did not realize these people are nomads

noun /ˈbed(ə)win/ 

Bedouin, plural; Bedouins, plural; Beduin, plural; Beduins, plural

1.A nomadic Arab of the desert

Lebensraum:

Meaning "living space," it was a basic principle of Nazi foreign policy. Hitler believed that eastern Europe had to be conquered to create a vast German empire for more physical space, a greater population, and new territory to supply food and raw materials.

No disagreement, but nomadic or not, they have been on that land for quite some time.

Weren't the recent protests in the Israel about quality of life issues such as housing. The settlements are illegal and Israel truly has a well documented living space problem similar to the one in 1930s Germany. I have no problem with the idea of resettlement but, it is just a bit hypocritical for a nation created for protection against such fascist matters to take upon itself to resettle an ethnic minority so the Jewish majority can have more living space.

Like the Palestinians, I have no interest in the Bedouins, they are pawns but they are now Israelis in the sense that they have been in Israel since it's inception. It seems to me that they should have human rights otherwise available to all Israelis.

[up-country_sinclair]

Yet another disgraceful Israeli government policy. I can't believe some are trying spin this as anything other than forced relocation imposed on a minority population by a oppressive regime. This is in part why the overwhelming majority of the world's nations are looking forward to the upcoming UN vote for Palestine to join the General Assembly.

[Ulysses G.]

Yet another disgraceful Israeli government policy.

You certainly do not seem to spend much time being outraged over Jews being forced to leave Arab countries, Islamic countries killing their own citizens to stay in power, adulterers being stoned to death or a number of other barbaric practices.

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.

- William Hazlitt

Edited September 14, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

Yet another disgraceful Israeli government policy.

You certainly do not seem to spend much time being outraged over Jews being forced to leave Arab countries, Islamic countries killing their own citizens to stay in power or adulterers being stoned to death or a number of other barbaric practices.

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.

- William Hazlitt

At least by repenting they would be consistently inconsistent, which may be one step up from bare naked prejudice.

[up-country_sinclair]

Yet another disgraceful Israeli government policy.

You certainly do not seem to spend much time being outraged over Jews being forced to leave Arab countries, Islamic countries killing their own citizens to stay in power, adulterers being stoned to death or a number of other barbaric practices.

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.

- William Hazlitt

Please do try to stay on topic. This thread is not about me, Islamic countries or adulterers. Or are you just trying to distract from the actual topic of the thread?

[Ulysses G.]

Sounds like an admisssion of guilt.

[flying]

A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds.

Perhaps that is at the root but still not a good justification at all.

I mean some people do not consider land an own-able object.

It is there to be used & shared.

Didn't the Indian Tribes in North America think the same?

Indians sold Manhattan Island for $24 (1839 dollars) in cloth and buttons.

It was inconceivable to them that anyone could own land period. Just because they were basically tricked

into making a mark on a paper does not make it right nor that which became of them & their way of life. Because they never conceived of owning it they thought nothing of making a mark on a paper in exchange for some cloth & buttons.

It is too bad that folks who deem their race more worthy or in need of the land can still today

pull such shenanigans.

It is doubly sad that those who come after cannot seem to co-exist.

They need to OWN it via paper trickery & shuffle off anything or anyone who stands in their way.

Edited September 14, 2011 by flying

[Steely Dan]

A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds.

Perhaps that is at the root but still not a good justification at all.

I mean some people do not consider land an own-able object.

It is there to be used & shared.

Didn't the Indian Tribes in North America think the same?

Indians sold Manhattan Island for $24 (1839 dollars) in cloth and buttons.

It was inconceivable to them that anyone could own land period. Just because they were basically tricked

into making a mark on a paper does not make it right nor that which became of them & their way of life. Because they never conceived of owning it they thought nothing of making a mark on a paper in exchange for some cloth & buttons.

It is too bad that folks who deem their race more worthy or in need of the land can still today

pull such shenanigans.

It is doubly sad that those who come after cannot seem to co-exist.

They need to OWN it via paper trickery & shuffle off anything or anyone who stands in their way.

Sorry, but we don't know enough about this to comment other than in generalities. I would however observe that last year more illegal Jewish dwellings were demolished than those belonging to Arabs, which does not fit your ethnic cleansing narrative. Furthermore they are being offered alternative settlement areas which is a step up from the Kurds in Iraq who are getting the hell bombed out of them by Turkey.

[koheesti]

A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds.

Perhaps that is at the root but still not a good justification at all.

I mean some people do not consider land an own-able object.

It is there to be used & shared.

Didn't the Indian Tribes in North America think the same?

Indians sold Manhattan Island for $24 (1839 dollars) in cloth and buttons.

It was inconceivable to them that anyone could own land period. Just because they were basically tricked

into making a mark on a paper does not make it right nor that which became of them & their way of life. Because they never conceived of owning it they thought nothing of making a mark on a paper in exchange for some cloth & buttons.

It is too bad that folks who deem their race more worthy or in need of the land can still today

pull such shenanigans.

It is doubly sad that those who come after cannot seem to co-exist.

They need to OWN it via paper trickery & shuffle off anything or anyone who stands in their way.

So the Indians sold Manhattan and they didn't even own it in the first place? $24 doesn't sound like such a bad deal in that case.

Edited September 14, 2011 by koheesti

[geriatrickid]

Yet another disgraceful Israeli government policy. I can't believe some are trying spin this as anything other than forced relocation imposed on a minority population by a oppressive regime. This is in part why the overwhelming majority of the world's nations are looking forward to the upcoming UN vote for Palestine to join the General Assembly.

One of the reasons for the Bedouin displacement is that they cannot access their traditional lands in Gaza and the Sinai. The Palestinians have occupied Bedouin lands for several decades. The displacement of the Bedouins started with the Egyptian rule of Gaza. As thousands of arabs moved in, the Bedouins lost their grazing land. As well, the creation of a border between Egypt and Israel disupted the nomadic lifestyle of the Bedouin who once crossed freely between Egyptian and Israeli territory.

Israel bears the burden of dealing with the situation because its arab neighbors refuse to recognize the rights of the Bedouin. In effect, the Palestinians have made many Bedouins refugees. Although they have been mistreated by the Israeli bureaucracy, they have been mistreated far worse by their arab "bretheren". This is one of the reasons why one doesn't see Bedouins going kaboom or taking up arms against Israelis. For the most part their dispute is one of indigeneous peoples rights and many Israelis support the Bedouin. This again is why one sees Israeli activists taking up the Bedouins' plight. No Palestinian has ever spoken out on behalf of the Bedouin. The reason is that the Palestinians stole Bedouin land and refuse to address the issue. Israel has sometimes hurt these people, but at least the Bedouins have a legal means to seek redress and compensation, something the Palestinians will never consider.

Justice is owed by all parties involved and not just the Israelis.

Edited September 14, 2011 by geriatrickid

[Ulysses G.]

Yet another disgraceful Israeli government policy. I can't believe some are trying spin this as anything other than forced relocation imposed on a minority population by a oppressive regime.

One of the reasons for the Bedouin displacement is that they cannot access their traditional lands in Gaza and the Sinai. The Palestinians have occupied Bedouin lands for several decades. The displacement of the Bedouins started with the Egyptian rule of Gaza. As thousands of arabs moved in, the Bedouins lost their grazing land. As well, the creation of a border between Egypt and Israel disupted the nomadic lifestyle of the Bedouin who once crossed freely between Egyptian and Israeli territory.

Israel bears the burden of dealing with the situation because its arab neighbors refuse to recognize the rights of the Bedouin. In effect, the Palestinians have made many Bedouins refugees. Although they have been mistreated by the Israeli bureaucracy, they have been mistreated far worse by their arab "bretheren".

A "forced relocation imposed on a minority population by a oppressive regime" indeed. The blame falls on Egypt and the so called "Palestinians" who illegally migrated from surrounding Arab countries and colonized the land much as they did the land that became Israel.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

You would have thought the Egyptians had enough "Lebensraum" considering the Sinai alone is a much larger land area than Israel.

[flying]

A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds.

Perhaps that is at the root but still not a good justification at all.

which does not fit your ethnic cleansing narrative.

Your words not mine...

You know I dont comment much on these matters.

But I will say this....Some of you & you particularly in this instance..

Come off like a bunch of zealots amped up on red bull.

It is one thing to continue your usual cheer leading & one side is always 100% right

never wrong mentality but please note this....

My response was aimed at your comment that I left above & here below....

A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds.

Edited September 14, 2011 by flying

[Steely Dan]

which does not fit your ethnic cleansing narrative.

Your words not mine...

You know I dont comment much on these matters.

But I will say this....Some of you & you particularly in this instance..

Come off like a bunch of zealots amped up on red bull.

It is one thing to continue your usual cheer leading & one side is always 100% right

never wrong mentality but please note this....

My response was aimed at your comment that I left above & here below....

A nomadic way of life is incompatible with the modern world of title deeds.

Perhaps it would be helpful if you don't edit my sentence in order for the context to change, especially when you use bold underlined type.

For clarity this was the original sentence.

I would however observe that last year more illegal Jewish dwellings were demolished than those belonging to Arabs, which does not fit your ethnic cleansing narrative.

I have highlighted the key part of the sentence you omitted, for clarity you understand.

P.S Not aimed at you but perhaps accidental references to the Nazi lexicon such as the term Lebensraum are nor helpful, though I guess the Nazis did offer displaced Jews relocation to various camps.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Steely Dan

[flying]

Perhaps it would be helpful if you don't edit my sentence in order for the context to change,

No I dont agree...I left in what was pertinent to my reply

When you say....

which does not fit your ethnic cleansing narrative.

You are making a statement.

As is usual in these types of threads you want to make assumptions.

You want to drag my post about the NA Indians & how I thought it related to your previous comment about the modern world of title deeds. into a Jew/Israeli bashing stance.

Then again as usual you want to drag in the Jews/Nazi's & anything else that seems sensational.

None of those things were mentioned in my post.

My last response pretty much spelled out exactly how I see it in these threads & really you folks should cut back on the red bull.

Edited September 14, 2011 by flying

[Jingthing]

"The Bedouin Problem", Has a familar ring to it.

When the ‘Prawer Report’, commissioned by the Israeli government to come up with a ‘solution’ to end the ‘Bedouin problem’, was released in June, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed numerous objections to the report.

You think you fooled anyone with that tripe? Again, a tricky way of saying Israelis are Nazis. You made up that phrasing yourself to obviously suggest Hitlerian genocidal rhetoric, the solution (genocide) to the Jewish problem. Please stop this kind of thing. I'm sincerely asking you. This topic can be discussed objectively without bringing that kind of garbage into it.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Jingthing

[Steely Dan]

Perhaps it would be helpful if you don't edit my sentence in order for the context to change,

No I dont agree...I left in what was pertinent to my reply

When you say....

which does not fit your ethnic cleansing narrative.

You are making a statement.

As is usual in these types of threads you want to make assumptions.

You want to drag my post about the NA Indians & how I thought it related to your previous comment about the modern world of title deeds. into a Jew/Israeli bashing stance.

Then again as usual you want to drag in the Jews/Nazi's & anything else that seems sensational.

None of those things were mentioned in my post.

My last response pretty much spelled out exactly how I see it in these threads & really you folks should cut back on the red bull.

Got it! I see the confusion. I used 'your' in the manner you would in 'your common or garden' not in an accusative way. I think the inference comes from it being part of a sentence including information I added not what you first quoted hence my use of your did not refer specifically to you. 'An' would have been a better choice as in 'An ethnic cleansing policy'.

Perhaps we should all quit drinking red bull.

[Scott]

One off-topic post deleted. This thread is starting to veer off the path and a few posters are getting a little bit too personal.