Rahma in the Negev - harassment by the governmente

Bedouins in Israel 

Following the numerous demolition orders issued many Bedouin communities, reported by Yael Agmon, we decided that as an organization dealing with violations of human rights, we are obliged to see our own harassed communities and report.

We came to Faraj Amarat of Rahma, a community almost adjacent to the town of Yeruham.

Our friends Yael and Leah have been working on their case for years and some things have changed for the better. Still, in spite of promises and agreements given over the years about their right to remain there, they keep getting demolition orders for every little thing they install.

Even a barbed wire fence they put up in order to prevent their camels from going to the road – is demolished, and then the camels are confiscated and they are fined, with the pretext that the Bedouins harass the camels. The authorities tie up each camel and load it with cranes onto a truck, driving it far away. And for the authorities, this is no harassment…

Faraj reveals to us a system of harassment motivated entirely by meanness.

Examples:

He shows us his ID, registered to the address of Tzvi Bornstein, which is the main street of Yerucham. So may he live in Yeruham? No way. Rahma is situated inside Yeruham’s municipal judisdiction, but in fact he and his family live in tin shanties on the outskirts of Yeruham.  The demolition order is addressed to “whomever it may concern”. Who is that as far as the inhabitants of Rahma are concerned?

Since they are transparent anyway, there is no need to address them as the rest of Israel’s citizens are addressed. There is no exact date of demolition, it will take place all of a sudden, and they then have 72 hours to demolish whatever is under orders by themselves (what else?), or else they will be fined tens of thousands of NIS.

He tells us of a series of agreements about their rights to the land – all of these agreements are violated and change constantly.

He says that many of the tribe have served in the Israeli army in the past and still do. They wish to feel they belong, to contribute to society and enjoy equal rights. And still they live in miserable conditions. Recently children are afraid of these raids and attending school becomes a threat.

I filmed him telling everything in detail. Nurit will edit the videos, so that everything will be illustrated clearly and understood, on our website.

Shame is an understatement describing what we felt as he spoke.

Injustice is sky high, accompanied by feelings of despair and anger that can only deteriorate the inter-community relations even further… slight hint.