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

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will resume the cross-examination of the state’s expert witness in the Bedouin Land Case.
In a previous session, Attorney Michael Sfard exposed contradictions and inaccuracies in Prof. Kark’s expert opinion presented to the court.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 9:00 am will resume the hearing of the Bedouin Land Case before Justice Sarah Dovrat at the Beersheba District Court. Attorney Michael Sfard will continue the cross-examination of the state’s expert witness, Prof. Ruth Kark of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In the session Adv. Sfard managed to expose contradictions and inaccuracies in the expert opinion presented to the court by Prof. Kark, whose main argument was that the Negev Bedouins had been nomads with no fixed abode and therefore “they have no land ownership rights whatsoever”. Among other things it turned out that Professor Kark herself expressed opposite opinions in academic articles and books published before she composed the expert opinion presented to the court in the present case.

Sfard represents Bedouin rights activist Nouri al Okbi, who claims ownership over the land in al-Arakib from which he and his tribe were expelled in 1951. This legal proceeding has a fundamental bearing on the issue of the Negev Bedouins in principle. It brings up historical, geographical and legal issues going back to the time of Ottoman and British Mandatory rule, which had never before been dealt with by a competent legal forum during Israel’s 62 years of existence.

Contact:

Nouri al Okbi 0545-465556,
Haya Noach 052-4269011,
Adam Keller 054-2340749