Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality
פורום דו-קיום בנגב לשוויון אזרחי
منتدى التعايش السلمي في النقب من أجل المساواة المدنية

Deserting the Arab Bedouin citizens of the Negev during wartime

16.05.2021

In light of the current state of emergency throughout the country and in particular in the Negev, NCF sent a letter to the Home Front Command demanding the provision of protected areas and shelters to the Naqab’s Bedouin recognized and unrecognized villages and townships; that are vulnerable to missiles and without the reach of the Iron Dome missile interception system.

Despite the petition to the High Court in 2014, the matter has not received official and appropriate attention, and over 280,000 residents in the Arab Bedouin indigenous localities remain to be vulnerable to life-threatening attacks, as the state decides to continue the war.

To access the letter click here

By end of July, we received their response in a letter that argued that the responsibility for protection rests with the local authority, and “as long as there are protection gaps in the area of ​​a particular regional council, it is its responsibility to provide residents with a public emergency protection infrastructure.” They added that the shields do not constitute a shelter and are a limited resource and their distribution is according to professional priority.

The photo was taken by Oren Ziv in Tel Aviv