{"id":5312,"date":"2020-03-29T12:53:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T12:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/?p=5312"},"modified":"2020-07-08T13:08:54","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T13:08:54","slug":"if-pandemic-hits-unrecognized-bedouin-villages-could-become-like-northern-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/?p=5312","title":{"rendered":"If pandemic hits, unrecognized Bedouin villages could \u2018become like northern Italy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Denied basic services, the Naqab’s unrecognized villages are not equipped to deal with the coronavirus \u2014 and the Israeli government is not stepping in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Oren Ziv<\/a>| March 29, 2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bedouin
Bedouin women collect their belongings from the ruins of their demolished homes in the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev desert, in the in the Southern Israel, January 18, 2017. (Hadas Parush\/Flash90) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The unrecognized Bedouin villages<\/a> in the Naqab\/Negev<\/a> in southern Israel are facing a crisis in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, say residents and activists. Due to the lack of infrastructure and health services, the communities are unable to follow the guidance set out by the Israeli Health Ministry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attiah al-Aasem, chair of the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages in the Naqab, warns that \u201cthe coronavirus will worsen the day-to-day problems in the villages.\u201d In the absence of utilities such as water, sewage, and garbage collection, residents are having to do their best to look after themselves, al-Aasem adds.\u201cThe Naqab is liable to become like northern Italy,\u201d says Salame Alatrash, head of the Al-Kasom Regional Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are living in highly crowded conditions here. A 50-meter shack can house between seven to twelve people,\u201d he says. \u201cThe government knows about the severe crowding and the lack of infrastructure. And what have they done all these years? We warned them it was going to lead to disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One resident of an unrecognized village says that there have been no preparations and that no personal protective equipment is available. \u201cWe\u2019re aware [of the situation], but how will we protect ourselves?\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re afraid, but we have to go to the grocery store.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We are living in fear and panic\u2019<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 150,000 people live in the Naqab\u2019s 37 unrecognized villages. Due to the Israeli government\u2019s decades-long refusal to grant them legal status, these villages are denied basic utilities such as water, a sewage system, or garbage collection, and are in constant battles to resist home demolitions and forced transfer. Their relative isolation from urban centers has helped to keep the pandemic at bay for the time being, but residents fear that the lack of infrastructure will cause a mass outbreak once the virus does arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis crisis is revealing a reality that goes unnoticed in normal times,\u201d says Sari Arraf, a lawyer with the Palestinian human rights organization Adalah. \u201cIt\u2019s highlighting the inequality faced by the unrecognized villages. If the requests we had made for the villages to be connected to basic infrastructure had been fulfilled, we wouldn\u2019t be in a situation that is endangering not only residents of the unrecognized villages, but also the entire population of the Naqab.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are living in fear and panic,\u201d says Aziz Abu Mdeghem, a resident of Al-Araqib<\/a>, which Israeli authorities have demolished 175 times over the past 10 years. \u201cWe have no way of protecting ourselves from the coronavirus. We cannot store food, and there is nowhere nearby where we can wash our hands all the time, because there\u2019s no running water.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bedouin
Bedouin collect their belongings from the ruins of their demolished homes in the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev desert, in the in the Southern Israel, January 18, 2017. (Hadas Parush\/Flash90) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Residents are afraid to leave the village to buy food, and fear the day when one of their neighbors may have to go into self-isolation \u2014 because the village is not set up to enable such distancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alatrash, the Al-Kasom council head, flagged the same concern to the Health Ministry, asking them several weeks ago for permission to turn schools in his district into isolation centers. He has yet to receive approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Al-Araqib has no running water whatsoever, other unrecognized villages are able to make use of solitary water supply points set up by Israel\u2019s national water company, which the villagers pay for. These access points can be miles away from the villages, and do not provide enough water for the communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe villages receive the minimum amount of water at maximum cost,\u201d says Arraf. The pricing is based on two tariffs \u2014 the sales quantity, and the consumption-above-sales quality. Regular users of water pay for a set amount, above which they pay extra. The Bedouin villagers \u201cpay double for the first drop of water, which makes it expensive to comply with Health Ministry guidelines. It\u2019s absurd,\u201d Arraf adds. Moreover, because residents have had to build their own water networks using long above-ground pipes inside their villages, problems with water pressure and quality often arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of infrastructure also means that even in normal times, ambulances cannot reach the villages due to the absence of paved roads. It is therefore unclear how medical assistance could arrive if coronavirus victims require urgent evacuation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\u201cWe are all in crisis here,\u201d says Alatrash. \u201cThis is not a normal situation, and there\u2019s no distinction between Jews and Arabs \u2014 we need to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Everything has been canceled, except for demolitions\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli government\u2019s measures to combat the pandemic are likely to have severe economic consequences for many of the unrecognized villages. \u201cThere are thousands of Bedouins who are temporary workers earning NIS 150-200 per day in agriculture, restaurants, hotels, and washing cars,\u201d says Alatrash. \u201cThey aren\u2019t entitled to unemployment, and if this crisis continues, they\u2019ll need support that we can\u2019t provide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, as of last Monday, Israeli authorities were still carrying out home demolitions and destroying crops belonging to unrecognized Bedouin villages, despite the state of emergency. The primary concern of Al-Araqib\u2019s residents remains the threat of losing their homes, although the authorities have torn down their shacks just once since the virus outbreak began \u2014 as opposed to every other week, as is usual. \u201cHome demolitions are our coronavirus,\u201d says Abu Mdeghem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, building planners and inspectors from the Finance Ministry arrived in Rahma village and distributed demolition notices for buildings that had been refurbished after being damaged by flooding two weeks earlier. Residents noted that the authorities arrived without any personal protective equipment and entered their homes in a group of eight, without keeping any distance between themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything has been canceled, except for demolitions against Bedouins,\u201d says al-Aasam. \u201cThis is what the state is worrying about \u2014 someone putting up a piece of tin or hammering in a nail. Distributing [demolition] orders is an excuse \u2014 they want to exploit the opportunity to hurt people, who now have no time to build because they\u2019re busy worrying about the coronavirus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inspectors\u2019 visits are liable to endanger the residents, al-Aasem adds. \u201cMaybe one of them has the virus, because it has spread across the whole country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the inspectors\u2019 visit, a number of rights groups appealed to the government<\/a> to stop all demolition activity against the homes and lands of the unrecognized villages, especially as the pandemic continues \u2014 pointing out that such operations jeopardize not only the health of the village residents, but also efforts to turn the tide on the coronavirus outbreak. They have yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the persistence of demolition operations, however, there are signs that the government is starting to adjust its activities in the unrecognized villages, amid an understanding of the potential for catastrophe. On March 22, for the first time since the establishment of the Authority for Bedouin Development and Settlement in the Negev (often called \u201cthe Bedouin Authority\u201d), the Agriculture Ministry decided that the body would lead government aid efforts for the unrecognized villages, in cooperation with various ministries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally, the Bedouin Authority is responsible for the so-called \u201cregularization\u201d of unrecognized villages, and carries out enforcement, demolitions, and evictions. In recent days, however, the body has sent employees to distribute Arabic-language materials on how to deal with the pandemic. According to the Authority, its staff were tasked with identifying the needs of the Bedouin population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The head of the Bedouin Authority, Yair Maayan, told Local Call that all its activities have been frozen, including demolitions, and that \u201call employees are working with the population in order to try and prevent illness.\u201d In a highly unusual move, Maayan wrote to the Finance Ministry after its inspectors handed out demolition notices in one of the villages, asking them to halt all such activity. Rather than carrying out demolitions and evictions, he wrote, the department should instead \u201cfocus on raising awareness and reducing coronavirus infections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, Haia Noach, executive director of the Negev Coexistence Forum \u2014 one of the groups that called on the state to stop demolitions \u2014 says that while the Bedouin Authority understands demolitions, it knows nothing about public health. \u201cIt\u2019s an abandonment of the community to let these people [in the Authority] deal with the situation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mass disruption to education<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Early on in the crisis, Israeli schools shuttered and the Education Ministry set up national online broadcasts so that students could learn from home. But the plan clearly did not take the Arabic-speaking population into account, says Dr. Sharaf Hassan, who heads a committee that assesses Arab education. \u201cThey didn\u2019t think about the gaps between Jews and Arabs. Around a third of Arab students don\u2019t have the technology needed to access the lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About half of Palestinian-Arab students in Israel are not taking part in distance learning, and half live below the poverty line, according to Hassan. Moreover, he adds, not all families have access to a computer, let alone reliable electricity or internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the best of times, children in the unrecognized villages have to struggle to access education. Now, however, the committee for unrecognized villages estimates that around 70 percent of students in these communities are not participating in distance learning, due to lack of resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lack of preparedness for an emergency situation is down to long-term discrimination,\u201d Hassan says. In the event that distance learning needs to continue for an extended period, the government needs to ensure that students with no internet access can still receive an education, by providing them with routers and computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access to information about the pandemic has also been an issue. \u201cIt took a while for people to realize that the school cancelations were not due to a holiday,\u201d says Huda Abu Obeid, an activist and resident of the Naqab. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t enough information in Arabic. Medical organizations began distributing guidelines themselves, out of a sense of duty. It\u2019s worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need a task force that includes doctors who know the community and will come up with solutions,\u201d says Noach. \u201cThe state needs to take responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, al-Aasem proposes rapid provision of essential services, such as a medical clinic, even if only temporary. \u201cIf they recognized the villages and provided them with basic infrastructure, we\u2019d be able to prevent this disaster,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denied basic services, the Naqab’s unrecognized villages are not equipped to deal with the coronavirus \u2014 and the Israeli government is not stepping in. By Oren Ziv| March 29, 2020 Bedouin women collect their belongings from the ruins of their demolished homes in the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev desert, in the in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5319,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5312\/revisions\/5319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}