General Background

The unrecognized Bedouin village of ʿAtīr is located north-east of the township of Ḥūrah. There are currently around 700 people living in the village. The name of the village derives from the name of the area in Arabic – ʿAtīr. The ruins of ʿAtīr are located two km from the village. The villagers are internally displaced people, who had been transferred in the past from Wādi Zubalahe (near kibbutz Shuval). After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, all of the Bedouin people who lived west to Route 264 were transferred to the east side of the road. However, in 1956, the residents of ʿAtīr were transferred once again to their present location.

Services and Infrastructure 

There are no health or education services in the village. The children attend school in the township of Ḥūrah, 9 km distance and a 15 minute drive from the village. In order to receive medical attention or healthcare, residents must also drive to Ḥūrah. 

The village of ʿAtīr is not connected to the national water grid and villages must connect a water pipe to the connection point in the Yatir Forest, two km away, from which the residents installed the infrastructure themselves at a cost of nearly ILS 200,000. The cost of water is high and stands at about ILS 15 per cubic meter. The village is not connected to the national electricity grid and its residents use solar panels to generate power. There are no paved roads in the village, and the main road to and from Ḥūrah (316), which previously had to be maintained by the villagers themselves, was renovated by the authorities only a year ago. 

Threats

ʿAtīr is an unrecognized village and for this reason is under eviction threat. In 2004, the entire village received eviction notices. In July 2010, the Committee on Principal Planning Issues decided to recommend that the Government of Israel recognize the village of ʿAtīr. However, an intervention by a representative of the Government led the Committee to withdraw from its decision. In May 2015, following a long legal battle against the eviction of the village, the Supreme Court ruled that the people can be forcefully moved to the township of Ḥūrah. All of the homes in the village have demolition orders. The State of Israel is looking to relocate the villagers to the township of Ḥūrah, but the villagers are asking, on the grounds that they have already been displaced twice before, that ʿAtīr will be recognized where it is located today as an independent agricultural village.