Israel destroys Araqeeb village in Negev for 234th time

The Israeli authorities destroyed all of the tents and other structures in the Palestinian Bedouin village of Araqeeb in the Negev desert for the 234th time today, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. The village’s Bedouin residents were again displaced.

According to local sources, Israeli police forces and employees from the Bedouin development authority — which is responsible for such demolitions — stormed the village and destroyed everything.

Consequently, dozens of Bedouin citizens, including children, have become homeless once again and will suffer from the harsh desert weather conditions before they can put up new makeshift homes again.

Araqeeb residents live in a constant state of fear because they expect the demolition of their village at any moment every time that they manage to rebuild their homes. About 80 people live in crude homes in the village.

An estimated 80,000 Bedouin Palestinians, who hold Israeli citizenship, live in several Negev communities, which are often denied vital services, including water, electricity and educational facilities.

The demolition of Al-Araqeeb and other villages in the Negev is believed to be a systematic Israeli policy aimed at expelling the native population from the area and transferring them to government-zoned areas to pave the way for the building and expansion of Jewish communities. This, insist Israel’s many critics, is apartheid in action.

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