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

Update from the Negev Coexistence Forum

12.11.2012

• Interactive Exhibitions now online
• EU Parliament members visit Negev
• New Bedouin town to be built
• Belgian activists cycle in solidarity with Bedouin

Interactive exhibitions now online

The Negev Coexistence Forum has produced several professionally curated exhibitions that were on display in Israel and abroad.

As part of our commitment to promoting Bedouin rights, we are offering organizations, community centers and any other group interested in the Bedouin cause, the opportunity to download an “exhibition kit” and mount the exhibition themselves in their own communities.

The kit includes image files optimised for printing, caption files, an outline of the hanging, and background information about the Bedouin communities in the Negev.

Everything can be easily printed at a professional printer near you!

The first of the exhibitions offered is the result of a visual literacy project conducted in the unrecognized Bedoiun village of Wadi Al-Na’am by photographer Ilan Molcho, with further guidance from photographer Miki Kratsman. The participating children photographed their immediate surroundings and wrote short statements about their work. The exhibition was previously shown at Amnesty International in London.

To view the exhibition in full, and for more information on how to download an exhibition kit, visit our website here, or e-mail info@dukium.org.

EU Parliament members visit the Negev

NCF Executive Director Haia Noach participated in an information briefing for members of the European Parliament (MEPs), organized by Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. Veronique De Keyser of Belgium, Ivo Vajgl of Slovenia, Emer Costello of Ireland and Said El Khadraoui of Belgium participated in the briefing.

Noach briefed the MEPs on the role of the Jewish National Fund in the demolition of Bedouin villages in the Negev, and afforestation plans in the region. Rawia Abu Rabia from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Khalil Alamour from the Bedouin village of Alsira and Attorney Suhad Bishara and Dr. Thabet Abu Rass from Adalah also presented information to the MEPs.

Following the visit, MEP Veronique de Keyser issued a strongly-worded statement against Israel’s efforts to displace its Bedouin citizens: “The situation on the ground is very alarming. We call on the Israeli authorities to recognise those Bedouin villages in the Negev-Naqab which are located on the tribes’ ancestral land and see that their inhabitants have access to all basic services, including infrastructure, water and education as the full Israeli citizens that they are.”

To read the MEP delegation’s full statement, click here. For more information about the tour and briefing, organized by Adalah, click here.

New Bedouin town to be built

A new Bedouin town will be established on 1000 dunams (250 acres) in the regional council of Ramat Negev. It will be named Ramat Tziporim. The plan was approved this week by the regional planning and construction committee.

Click here for further reading on the Ha’aretz website.

Belgian activists cycle in solidarity with the Bedouin

Last week, a group of Belgian activists cycled through the Negev in solidarity with Bedouin communities.

The group biked for two days, and visited the villages of Al Arakib, Wadi Al-Na’am, and others. They spoke with Bedouin leaders in the villages to hear about their daily struggles and fight for basic rights in the Negev.