The villagers of "Al-Sidr" have received demolition orders for 50 buildings belonging to the Abu Gmada (AlAgnmi) families.  The village Al-Sidr,  which is not recognized by the Israeli authorities, is near the south-west side of the Nevatim air base, 6 km. west of the town of Arara in the Negev. Last June the villages got "warnings before demolition" for all houses in the village. Members of the Hacara (Recognition) Forum  visited the village last Saturday. The forum consists of the Council of Forty, the Israeli Committee Against Demolition of Houses, New Profile, Rabbis for Human Rights, The Negev Coexistence Forum, Taayush, and the Council for the protection of Bedouin Rights.

Holding their own homes demolition orders
- photo by David Nir, for Dukium, Negev Coexistence Forum

The family of Abu Gmada lives for generations in the area where the airbase Nevatim was established on extensive lands. In 1983 with the signing of the peace agreement with Egypt and the establishment of the  base, the inhabitants were moved under agreement, and settled near the airbase fence, on government ground and on 150 dunam of lands on which some of the families had ownership claims. The families did not get any compensation for the lands they gave up and the  authorities promised to give them plots in Arara within three years. The authorities gave unwritten permission to erect buildings on the land. Only ten years later the people got an offer to move to Arara but the conditions were not acceptable for them and didn't include reasonable compensation for the lands given up. And the second generation was forced to buy plots. From 1993 to June 2004 there was no contact between the  authorities and the Bedouin, and the court orders of June 2004 came as a complete surprise. After the distribution of the court orders the people contacted various authorities and started negotiations with the Bedouin Authority about their moving to Arara, but it appeared that in Arara there were no free plots and a large demand for building plots. The Authority proposed the villagers to move to the village Um Matnan, but the villages learned that the authorities did not come to an agreement with the owners of the grounds there, so the establishment of Um Matnan was not possible. Despite the efforts of the villagers to find a solution, demolition orders were unexpectedly given at  the end of last week for all buildings in the village. A  number of villages stated that they are ready to come to an agreement with the authorities to move to a planned village if the  conditions are acceptable even while they know they won't get equal value for the lands they give up.
The new operating mode of the authorities reminds of the days of the military rules, where special functionaries were contact persons to the civil Bedouin population. Now the clerks of the Internal affairs office who bring the demolition orders are accompanied by a policy officer for minorities affairs whose task it is to "explain" to the population that signing the evacuation order within 14 days may prevent the demolition. This seems to be doubtful, and not legal, as it implies that the demolition order is "conditional". If someone signs it, his house is not destroyed.
The present case defies the reasoning that the population of the unrecognized villages are not willing to come to an agreement with the State concerning their future. Even while the villages wish to negotiate and come to an agreement, and evacuate even more lands than they released in the past, the government continues its hard-handed and unequal policy concerning the Arab citizens in the Negev and leads to a harsh and somber future.