Protests across Israel over Bedouin settlement

• Thousands of Bedouin demonstrators and their supporters clashed with the police across Israel as they protested a government plan to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev desert. This reminded of the Palestinian uprisings in the West Bank.
• Activists had called for the protests as part of an international ‘day of rage’ against the plan, known as the Prawer-Begin plan. A bill that would turn the plan into law is expected to be brought to a final vote during the next session of Parliament.
• Since the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948, the land disputes between the Bedouins and the authorities remained. Hence in order to resolve the dispute, the plan proposes a mechanism to deal with land ownership claims and compensation. It also calls for the evacuation of 35 Bedouin villages that are not recognised by the state and the resettlement of the residents in existing or new towns.
• The Human rights organisations opposing the plan say it will involve the forcible relocation of 30,000 to 40,000 Bedouins, dispossessing them of their historic land rights. The plan was created without sufficient input by the Bedouins, and that it discriminates between the Bedouin and Jewish residents of the Negev.
• A third to half of the 170,000 or so Negev Bedouins live in unrecognised villages that are not connected to the state water or electricity networks.
• It has been argued that, the Bedouin of the Negev, being equal citizens, deserve adequate housing, public services and a better future for their children.