Opportunity gulf between Bedouin in Israel's Negev desert

From the IRIN, the story of another group of people within Israel who are under constant threat of seclusion.

More than 180,000 Bedouin live in Israel's Negev desert, but there is a big gap in terms of life opportunities between those Bedouin who live in 35 unrecognized villages, and those luckier ones for whom Israel has created seven towns or who live in seven officially recognized villages, say human rights workers.

Those in unrecognized villages face a constant threat of eviction, and are cut off from even basic services. Aside from the threats to their homes, not enough is being done by Israel to lift these Bedouin communities out of poverty, they say.

Amal Elsana Al Hajooj, a Bedouin woman living in the Negev and the director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, explained to IRIN that unemployment and poverty rates among the Negev Bedouin in unrecognized villages are the highest in Israel:

"Residents of unrecognized villages have no status. They have no address, their Israeli IDs state only the name of their clan. They have no claim to land. Their communities have no water, electricity or roads. There are no education or health services.

"The Negev is the backyard of the state of Israel. We are struggling to get any investment here."

Al Hajooj says the situation is most difficult for Bedouin women who face the dual challenges of living as Bedouin in Israel but also as women in a patriarchal society, where 30 percent of families are polygamous.

The conditions for women living in unrecognized villages are dramatically worse than for their counterparts in Israeli-built Negev towns, she said. "Today 75 percent of the Bedouin students [largely from recognized Negev towns] in university are women. But in the unrecognized villages the situation is very different - 65 percent of girls are out of school because there are no schools."

The Israeli government's recent suing of the Bedouin residents of al-Araqib village in the Negev - for US$500,000 to cover the cost of repeatedly demolishing their homes - has sparked fresh debate over Israel's treatment of its Bedouin minority.

Claims by Bedouin residents that al-Araqib is built on ancestral land have been dismissed by Israel, which has carried out more than 20 demolition and eviction operations in the village since July 2010. Israel considers al-Araqib, along with 34 other Bedouin villages in the Negev, an illegal settlement built on state-owned land.

"Criminals"

Ortal Tzabar, spokesperson for the Israel Lands Authority, told IRIN: "This case is not about demolitions; these people are criminals. This land has been deserted since 1950, when it was taken by Israel. We had even leased the land to other Bedouins for agricultural use and they chased them away.

"But their claim that the land belongs to them is now under investigation and if it is found they have any rights at all, they will be allowed to return."

In response, a spokesperson for Araqib residents, Awad Abu Freih, said: "The court [process] is going to take some time, the next hearing is not soon. It has been very exhausting.

"The government doesn't like us; they don't want us but this is our land. They have been using our land for over 60 years. We don't owe them any money. They should give us compensation."

Weaving centre

Khadra El Saneh is the director of Sidreh, the only NGO of its kind in Israel working to educate and promote the rights of Bedouin women. A mother of four, El Saneh overcame initial opposition from the traditional elements in her community to set up a weaving centre. The centre now employees 70 local women to make rugs that sell in boutiques across Israel and are exported as far afield as New York and Tokyo.

"Our aim is to empower women here with basic things. Bedouin women are at the lowest level of employment in Israeli society; 90 percent of Bedouin women living in recognized villages are illiterate. In unrecognized villages, that number is more like 100 percent.

"If a woman has education and economic empowerment, she can take more control, make decisions, be more useful to her society and her family."

In an effort to combat low literacy rates, Sidreh also runs courses teaching Arabic, Hebrew and English. Since it opened in 1998, 1,400 women 17-60 have graduated from its literacy course. It also offers community services, like early childcare.

Sidreh's weaving business was launched in 2007. The 70 women employed to spin wool, stitch and weave the rugs each earn on average 2000 NIS (US$586) a month. The organization is supported by a number of international and national aid agencies, including Oxfam, but has received no support from the state of Israel.

According to El Saneh, the solution to her community's education and employment crisis is simple: "If we have schools, girls can go to school. If we don't have schools, girls can't go. If a woman doesn't have skills, transport and basic logistics she can't open a business. If she has, she can.