Pandemic demolitions: The unrecognized Bedouin villages in southern Israel and the ongoing housing crisis

Abstract

This Update reports on the continued eviction policy that the State of Israel has been leading towards the Bedouin of the Negev-Naqab, a situation existing since the establishment of the State in 1948 and deepened during the Covid-19 pandemic. The housing crisis for Bedouin indigenous citizens and communities has long been urgent and dire, as the State of Israel continues to deny the existence of thirty-five Bedouin villages that are unrecognized and thus lack basic infrastructure like electricity, sewage services, water connections and garbage disposal. With little access to health services, these communities continue to be transparent on the map and in national statistics. Members of the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, an Arab-Jewish organization established in 1997 by Arab and Jewish residents of the Naqab to provide a platform for a joint fight for civil rights equality, detail these historic and ongoing housing injustices, supported by powerful photos from the exhibition Recognized: Life and Resilience captured by Bedouin women.