Israel-Palestine: Bedouin community near settlement faces expulsion

[Elvis]

http://www.btselem.org/video/2012/01...uins-west-bank

January 2012
Israel's Civil Administration is planning to relocate some 27,000 Bedouins living in Area C in the West Bank. At first, some 2,300 people will be expelled from their homes near the Ma'ale Adummim settlement and relocated to a site next to the Abu Dis garbage dump, east of Jerusalem. Members of the Khan al-Ahmar community explain how the move will affect them.

http://www.btselem.org/settlements/2...on_of_bedouins

The Civil Administration (CA) is planning to expel the Bedouin communities living in Area C in the West Bank, transferring some 27,000 persons from their homes. In the first phase, planned as early as January 2012, some 20 communities, comprising 2,300 persons, will be forcibly transferred to a site near the Abu Dis refuse dump, east of Jerusalem. These communities currently live in the area of the Ma'ale Adummim settlement and nearby settlements; half of them live in 1E, the area designated by Israel for future expansion of Ma’ale Adummim. In the second phase, the CA plans to expel communities from the Jordan Valley. One option being considered is building a new permanent town for these communities next to a-Nabi Musa, west of Jericho. According to the CA's schedule, the plan will be implemented in three to six years.

[...]The CA announced its plan to "relocate" the Bedouin communities to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The main reason given was the claim that the Bedouins do not have rights to the land on which they currently live and that all their construction has been done without permits. The CA did not consult with representatives of the communities before adopting the plan, and ignored the anticipated harm to these communities’ way of life. Most of the communities informed the UN agencies that they would object to the plan.

[...]About 80 percent of the Bedouins living in what Israel terms the "Adummim bloc", who are expected to be expelled in coming months, are 1948 refugees who once lived in the Negev, in southern Israel. Two-thirds are under age 18. All of them have lived for decades in unrecognized villages. Demolition orders have already been issued against most of the structures in the communities – tin structures and tents and a school in the Khan al-Ahmar community. In two communities – Wadi Abu Hindi (350 residents) and al-Muntar (300 residents) – demolition orders have been issued against all the structures in the community.

Area C Fact Sheet via the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory:

Area C Fast Facts
1. Over 60 percent of the West Bank is considered Area C, where Israel retains control over security,
planning and zoning.

2. An estimated 150,000 Palestinians live in Area C, including 27,500 Bedouin and other herders.

3. 55% of Bedouin / herding communities are food insecure.

4. More than 20% of communities in Area C have extremely limited access to health services.

5. Water consumption dips to 20 litres/capita/day (l/c/d) in communities without water infrastructure, onefifth
of the World Health Organisation’s recommendation.

6. Communities depending on tankered water pay up to 400% more for every liter than those connected to
the water network.

7. 70% of Area C is off-limits to Palestinian construction; 29% is heavily restricted. Less than 1% of Area C has been planned for Palestinian development by the Israeli Civil Administration.

8. 342 Palestinian-owned structures, including 125 residential structures and 20 rainwater collection
cisterns, were demolished by the Israeli authorities in the first half of 2011.

9. 656 people, including 351 children, lost their homes in the first half of 2011, almost five times more than
within the same period last year. One-third of these people were displaced in June 2011 alone.

10. Over 3,000 demolition orders are outstanding, including 18 targeting schools.

11. The planned expansion area of the around135 Israeli settlements in Area C is 9 times larger than their
built-up area. (B’Tselem).

12. Approximately 300,000 settlers currently live in Area C.

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/och..._July_2011.pdf

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/8171/plpcr.jpg

[Kuya]

Elvis, do you think the marriage between Israelis and Palestinians issue is something that deserves a separate thread, or would it be relevant here as a theme of institutional racism against Palestinians?

[Elvis]

I think so yes. It might be better to put similar articles in here.