Bedouins in Occupied Palestine against Racist Praver Bill: I Shall Not Let Go of My Land

Local Editor

"Israeli" Knesset approved of a racist Praver Bill that aims to evict Bedouin communities unrecognized in "Israeli" law and raised oppositions by Bedouins.

The residents of the village of al-Araqeeb, which has been demolished several times, say they are aware the bill is intended to drive them off their land. However, they have no intention of abiding by it.

Aziz Abu Madijam, a 38-year-old father of six, told the "Israeli" daily Yedioth Ahronoth in its issue on Wednesday, "Two years ago there were almost 600 people in our village, but one day police arrived and demolished the village. From a nice village where everyone without exception is working and paying taxes we were back to being a small tent settlement."

"My grandfather's grandfather bought these lands in 1904, when the land was under Ottoman rule," Abu Madijam continued.

"My grandfather lived on the same exact plot of land during the British Mandate, and me and my father have lived here under "Israeli" rule. And now we're suddenly invaders upon ["Israeli"] property," he added.

"The law is racist, and it aims to make us relinquish our lands willingly. Yet they also say that should we not comply they'll resort to force. I don't want to move to places like Rahat, as it's stricken by poverty and has gradually turned into a crime hub. Why should I move my little boy, of just eight months old, to such a place?" Abu Madijam said in concern.

"This is my land and I shall not let go of it," he remarked.

Moreover, Abu Madijam's wife added, "This is where I lived my entire life and this is where I'll perish. Even for each acre of my land they'll offer me an acre in Tel Aviv, I'll say no."

"Israel's" parliament approved on Monday evening in the first reading a controversial bill that would resettle en masse the Bedouin communities located in the southern desert of al-Naqab.

The bill, officially called "Bedouin settlements regularization in the al-Naqab," was passed in the Knesset, after an intense debate by a narrow 43-40 majority. However, it has yet to be approved in the second and third readings.

Should it be approved, the bill would affect some 200,000 Bedouins who mainly live in the southern al-Naqab desert.

The government-backed bill threatens to demolish 30,000 to 40, 000 Bedouin residences in villages, which the "Israeli" occupier does not recognize, and may also drive some 100,000 out of 200,000 Bedouins from their homes.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team