22 September 2006
To:
Mr. Miloon Kothari
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
Appeal for an urgent action: To halt the intention of the Israeli government to destroy an entire indigenous Bedouin village in the Negev (Southern Israel)
The village of A-Sira is home to 350 indigenous Arab-Bedouins. On September 7th, approximately 200 police officers and inspectors raided the village and posted 45 demolition notices as well as an additional six houses that had been given a prior warning. This means that all of the houses and structures in the village are to be torn down. As of today, no alternative housing solution has been found for the residents
1. General Information
The Indigenous Arab-Bedouins are a unique community that has lived in the Negev for centuries. In 1948, they constituted the vast majority of the population of the Negev. However, after the establishment of Israel, only a small fraction of the population was left in the Negev, the rest having left or been expelled to Jordan and Egypt. The Israeli authorities did not recognize the indigenous Arab-Bedouins' traditional ownership rights. Dispossessed of the lands they had owned for centuries, today the 160,000 Arab-Bedouins are the most disadvantaged citizens in Israel. Almost half of the indigenous Arab-Bedouin citizens live in seven failing government-planned towns. The remainder lives in 45 villages unrecognized by the government. These villages do not appear on the official maps of Israel and do not receive basic services such as running water, electricity, garbage collection, etc. One of these villages is the unrecognized village of A-Sira.
One of the principal methods by which the government hopes to resettle this indigenous community in the townships is by demolishing their 'illegal' houses in the unrecognized villages, and by not providing any avenues for legal construction within the villages. During the past three years alone, 560 houses were demolished in the unrecognized villages, leaving thousands of people homeless.
2. Identity of the persons concerned
The village of A-Sira is home to 350 indigenous Arab-Bedouins. The village is located near the Nevatim Air-Force base (10 km southwest of the city of Arad). The 50 houses of the village stretch over 4 square kilometers. The residents have lived in this area for generations, throughout the Ottoman and British mandates. Seven different wells and cisterns, as well as documents of land acquisition during the Ottoman rule, prove their connection to the place.
3. Information Regarding the Alleged Violations
In 1980, the Israeli authorities passed “The Negev Land Acquisition (Peace Treaty With Egypt) Law" that allowed the expropriation of the village lands for the purpose of establishing the Nevatim Air-Force Base. Although the village lies outside the air force base, all of the village lands were declared a military zone. The residents were not informed of this decision and they gave no consent to this decision.
Three months ago, dozens of police officers and officials from the Ministry of the Interior posted seven warning notices of impending house demolitions. The residents of the village went to court to fight the injunction. One house was destroyed by the residents themselves after one of the judges asked if anyone was living in the house. This house was being constructed for a divorced woman with four children who suffer from a number of health problems (retardation, deafness). After the judge was told that the house was under construction, he ordered it to be demolished. The woman and her children are now living in a makeshift lean-to.
On September 7th, approximately 200 police officers and inspectors returned to the village and posted 45 demolition notices as well as an additional six houses that had been given a prior warning. This means that all of the houses and structures in the village are to be torn down. As of today, no alternative housing solution has been found for the residents. The building inspector in the Ministry of the Interior asserts that his job is just to demolish the houses. The Bedouin Authority, which is responsible for settling this population, has not offered any concrete solutions to the problem.
When the injunctions were distributed on September 7th, a pregnant woman in her sixth month, who is a mother of five, had an anxiety attack. She was taken to the hospital where she gave birth to a premature infant. The baby died after several days, on September 17th.
4. Steps Taken by the Victims
The residents went to all of the authorities that are connected to the topic and had initiated a number of meetings with government officials.
On June 4th, 2006 - there was a meeting with the commander of the air force base which is next to the village. He told the villagers that although there is a plan to enlarge the base, there is no plan to enlarge it in the direction of the village and that the base does not need their land.
On June 6th, 2006 – A meeting was held with Mr. Ilan Sagy, the construction inspector of the Ministry of Interior for the southern region. He promised to wait three months before demolishing the homes. He noted that he could not make any recommendations or suggestions for housing since he is in charge of demolitions.
On June 8th, 2006 – A meeting was held with Mr. Ilan Yifrach, of the Bedouin Authority, about housing solutions. No immediate solution was put forth. The idea was raised to move the residents to a future settlement, called Mar'it, or to the town of Rahat, which is located 40 kilometers from A-Sira.
On July 7th, 2006 – A meeting was held with Mr. Ya'acov Katz, the head of the Bedouin Authority. He said that he had no solution and that he would check the options of Mar'it, Rahat and Lakia (another Bedouin town). He asked the village representatives to consider asking one of the clans in Lakia for permission to move there. This was a clear attempt to create conflict between the Bedouin tribes, in order to divide and conquer.
All of these meetings made it clear to the residents of A-Sira that the State of Israel has no real housing solution for them. The attempt to destroy the village and to expel the residents from their ancestral lands clearly violates the right to housing, land ownership and the indigenous rights of the villagers. An urgent action is needed in order to prevent the danger that is hanging over the heads of the 350 residents of the village. They may find themselves with no roofs over their heads in the very near future.
5. Identity of the Persons Submitting the Form
Village Committee of A-Sira
Mr Halil Al-Amour
Mr. Ahmad Al Nasasra
Tel: +972-52-2700365
Email: ycantmeetu@hotmail.com
Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality
Mr. Ariel Dloomy
Tel: +972-50-7701118 Fax: +972-8-9390185
Email: ariel@dukium.org
By e-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org
By fax: +41 22 917 90 06
