General Background

Wādi al-Mšaš is located north of the Negev junction with 700 residents. The name of the village derives from Wādi al-Mšaš, a stream which runs in the area. Most of the residents are internally displaced citizens who were transferred by the government from the western Negev area in the 1950s. The residents of the village own lands in the Halutza area.

Services and Infrastructure

There are no education services and no health services in the village. The children attend school in Wādi an-Naʿam, 20 km distance from the village, about half an hour drive. Due to the difficulty to access the village the residents have to drive the children to the main road from where they are picked up by the school bus. The high school children attend school in the Bedouin town Šgīb as-Salām, 30 km distance and half an hour drive. For health services the residents have to drive to Šgīb as-Salām or Yeruham – 20 km distance from the village.

No paved roads exist in the village and in times of heavy rains there is no way to move in the village. Moreover, the bus stops on the main road were cancelled when the road was widened. The village has no connection to water supply although the main pipe of Mekorot runs 2 km from the village. Therefore, water supply is by water tanks which are being filled 8km away from the village. Wādi al-Mšaš is not connected to the national electric grid and the residents use solar panels in order to produce electricity on their own.

Threats

Wādi al-Mšaš is an unrecognized village and according to The Be’er Sheva metropolis plan is located in a ‘desert scenic region’ and therefore cannot be recognized. The village is within the jurisdiction of Ramat Hanegev regional council but does not receive any services from this council. The state wants to move the residents to the Bedouin town of Šgīb as-Salām, as part of a larger plan to move the nearby village of Wādi an-Naʿam. The residents’  livelihood is agriculture and as such they want to be recognized in their present location. The residents don’t want to move and live in a town and wish to continue living their rural life. House demolitions occur now and then and in view of the threats by the authorities that the costs of demolition will be borne by the owners, some residents have demolished their own homes.

*Other forms of writing: Wadi al-Mshash, Wadi al-Mashash, Wadi Mshash, Wadi Mashash