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Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s Unrecognized Bedouin Villages

Off the Map

Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s Unrecognized Bedouin Villages

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I. Summary

Key Recommendations

II. Note on Methodology and Scope

III. Background

Legal Basis for Land Confiscation

Government-planned Townships

Battle over Land Ownership

Unrecognized Villages

Developing the Negev

Is Resolution Possible?

IV. Discrimination in Land Allocation and Access

Land Ownership and Distribution in Israel

Discrimination in Land Jurisdiction

Individual Farms

Selection Committees

V. Discrimination in Planning

Bedouin Needs Not Met

Absence of Planning Participation and Consultation of Bedouin

Lack of Local Representation

No Criteria for Recognizing Communities

Retroactive Legalization and Changed Zoning

VI. Home Demolitions

Twayil Abu Jarwal—A Bedouin Village Repeatedly under the Bulldozer

Legal Authority for Demolitions

Demolitions on the Increase

Justifications

How Demolitions Are Carried Out

Impact of Home Demolitions

VII. Lack of Compensation or Adequate Alternatives

Recognized Townships

VIII. Israel’s Obligations under International Law, and Comparative Practice

The Prohibition Against Discrimination

Right to Adequate Housing, Privacy, and Choice of Residence

Security of Tenure

Right to Land

Forced Evictions

Indigenous Land Rights

Recent Practices of Other Governments

Creating a Land Claims Mechanism in Israel

IX. Detailed Recommendations

X. Acknowledgments

Appendix A: Special Procedures Address the Bedouin Problem

Appendix B: Home Demolition Statistics

Appendix C: Sample Warning

Appendix D: Sample Administrative Demolition Order

Appendix E: Sample Judicial Demolition Order

 

March 2008 Volume 20, No. 5(E)