Following the 1948 War, the Bedouin population in the Negev Desert in southern Israel was forced to change its way of life. Prior to that time Bedouin wandered freely in the deserts, which are now under Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian jurisdiction. In 1953, the Israeli army ordered many of the Bedouin, among them the villagers of Al-Araqib, to abandon their lands for six months. During this time the army used the land for military exercises. To this day, the right of the Bedouins to return to their land has not been recognized. With no consideration of their traditional nomadic lifestyle, many Bedouin were moved to permanent urban settlements where they suffered from unemployment, crime, and psychological distress.

In the 1950s, a small number of Bedouin managed to return to their land in the village of Al-Araqib and were joined by a number of additional families in the late 1990s. The families understood that if they did not return they would ultimately lose all rights to their land. Because the villages are  “unrecognized” they have no infrastructure: no electricity or water, no health and educational services, and no road and sewage systems. The Israeli authorities have made the lives of the villagers impossible. Those who returned suffer from the repeated destruction of their homes which are considered illegal, and of their agricultural crops. In 2009 the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) began planting the Ambassadors Forest on the lands of Al-Araqib in an effort to complete the Israeli appropriation of the land and to prevent the dwellers from using the land for housing or farming.

Between July 27, 2010 and the end of 2011, structures in the village were demolished 33 times, but the residents continue to struggle and refuse to leave their ancestral land.

During 2011 the village of  Amniyr was demolished five times by the Israeli authorities. On February 22nd, Israeli bulldozers advanced and destroyed seven tents, two water wells, and dozens of olive trees. The tents were destroyed with all the contents and belongings of the families remaining inside. Following the demolition the IDF declared the site as a “closed military area”, and forbid the families to re-enter.

New  structures were donated to the community as emergency aid, and their water cisterns were rebuilt with the help of Israeli activists from Ta’ayush. Unfortunately, more demolitions followed soon after. During the months of March, May, June and July 2011, the village was completely demolished again and again. They now have no water or shelter. Ten of the families now sleep in Yatta and come during the day to tend to their olive and almond trees. Mohamed Hussein Jabour and his wife Zaffra refuse to leave.

The operation began early in the morning of one of winter’s stormiest days. A large police force took over the Abu Eid family compound and the Israeli Lands authority began a campaign of destruction. The compound consisted of seven homes in which 70 people lived, including 51 children. The police forces were evacuating the premises when the Abu Eid children were returning from school; the demolition was over by noon.

The family was not offered any alternative housing after the demolition, and they were forced to put up tents along side the remains of their houses. Israel issued hundreds of demolition orders to Arab families in Lod. Long-standing discrimination in land planning and allocation of housing resources forces these families build without permits.

The remains of the D Family home.

Mr. D is the patriarch of an extended family living near Hebron. The clan has resided in the Hebron area for over 1,000 years and now numbers over 19,000 people in the Hebron district. Over 34 dunams (8.5 acres) of Mr. D’s land was confiscated for an illegal Israeli settlement which now enjoys the harvest of plums and olives that were stolen from his family.

In 2003 the Israeli military accompanied by bulldozers came to demolish an addition that Mr. D had built to accommodate his growing family. The soldiers surrounded the home and removed all the occupants, dragging Mr D from the house, beating him and breaking his leg. “All I want is to be left in peace with my family”, said Mr, D. “I don’t hate the Jews. Why do they hate us so much that they destroy everything we have?”

The rubble of Family K's old house surrounds their rebuilt one.

Mr. K is a high school mathematics teacher who lives with his family in the village of Shukba in the central West Bank. One day his wife called him at work to say that the Israeli army has arrived and was about to demolish their home. By the time he arrived more than 100 soldiers had closed off the village and were destroying six houses. The only reason given was that the houses had been built without permits. The village is situated in Area ‘B’ under Palestinian Authority control. However all the land surrounding the village is in Area ‘C’, owned by the villagers but under Israeli control.

Israel refused to allow the village to undergo natural expansion as families grow, and results in the policy of home demolitions. One of the arguments the Israeli government has made against a settlement freeze is that it would restrict “natural growth” within Israeli settlements.