COHRE - Centre On Housing Rights and Evictions

COHRE - Centre On Housing Rights and Evictions: "he unrecognized villages of the Negev/Naqab
Whilst water and sanitation provision in Israel is of a generally high standard, discriminatory policies have adversely affected Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel. Amongst the most deprived citizens of Israel are the Bedouin communities of Negev/Naqab in the south. Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Bedouin Arabs have had their lands confiscated by the State, often with little or no compensation, and have been forcibly relocated to the north eastern Negev around Beer Sheva. Today, over half the Bedouin population lives in seven government planned towns and one regional council which constitute some of the poorest and most deprived localities in Israel. The remainder of the Bedouin, some 80,000 people, lives in around 34 'unrecognized' villages which despite having between 600-4,000 residents per village do not exist on any official map. Non-recognition is a means employed by the State of Israel to force the Bedouin off their historical lands and concentrate them in government built urban enclaves. Bedouin land is often given to development projects which exclusively serve Jewish citizens of Israel.

Residents of the unrecognized villages lack security of tenure and live under the constant threat of forced evictions and house demolitions. The unrecognized villages are not provided with any basic services including water and sanit"