The Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages of Negev (RCUV) is a political advocacy group that was established in 1997.Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages - RCUV (Hebrew), The Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development It represents the interests of the Bedouin population living in the unrecognized dispersed communities in the Negev Desert in southern Israel.
Structure This political advocacy group was created due to the need of the residents of the unrecognized Bedouin communities to promote their interests within the Israeli political system. Members of these communities belong to no municipalities of their own, and thus cannot elect representatives.
The Regional Council for the Unrecognized Arab Villages in the Negev (RCUV) is a grassroot civil society organization and a democratically elected body, chosen to represent the Bedouin community of the 45 unrecognized villages in the Negev. This population has been denied any representation in the local authorities, through the policies of non-recognition. The residents of each village elect a local committee, who become members of the general assembly of the RCUV. The general assembly elects the chairperson and the executive committee once every 4 years.
There are 240,000 Bedouin in the Negev, of these 50% live in UV. Non recognition means that there are no national infrastructures: running water, electricity, roads and more. This situation requires the residents of the UV to provide these facilities for themselves.
Israel refuses to recognize these localities for several reasons. The main reason is the planning issue—the state would like to see the Bedouin living in the planned settlements, like Rahat and Hura. However, most of the unrecognized villages are dispersed far apart and are situated in unsuitable places, e.g., military fire zones, natural reserves, landfills, etc. Another reason is an extremely high number of land ownership claims filed by the Bedouin making it impossible to recognize all of them. Negev Bedouin claim the ownership of land totaling some , or 12 times the size of Tel Aviv. Ultimately, the state does want to recognize as many of these unrecognized settlements as possible and build infrastructure in them.
In 1997 inhabitants of these localities who felt the need for a representative community-based organization founded the RCUV.Patricia Golan, Built on sand , Jerusalem Report, June 26, 2012 Then the 45 participating dispersed localities had a total population of 76,000 inhabitants; these communities range in size from 500 to almost 5,000 residents. The RCUV is supposed to be an elected body, and the residents of each community (village) elect a local committee of 3-7 persons, who become members of the general assembly of the RCUV. The general assembly democratically elects the chairperson and the executive committee once every 4 years. To this day, the RCUV is the only body which seeks to represent the interests of residents of the unrecognized villages.
The primary goal of the RCUV is unconditional governmental recognition of the Arab Bedouin (governmentally unrecognized) villages in the Negev, which have been completely excluded from any form of governmental support or recognition. The RCUV also initiates and implements development programs; lobbies for civil rights; and advocate for the needs of its constituency. Without the RCUV there would be no such body to ensure that the basic needs and human rights of the Negev Bedouins are met.
History
Negev Bedouins were originally a nomadic society engaged in herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing. Traditional Bedouin lifestyle began to change after the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. At the end of the 19th century, following the need to establish law and order in the Negev, the Ottoman Empire started forcing sedentarization of the Bedouins.
In 1858 a new Ottoman Land Law was issued that offered the legal grounds for the displacement of the Bedouin. Under the Tanzimat reforms the Ottoman Land Law of 1858 instituted an unprecedented land registration process. Few Bedouin opted to register their lands with the Ottoman Tapu, due to lack of enforcement by the Ottomans, illiteracy, refusal to pay taxes and lack of relevance of written documentation of ownership to the Bedouin way of life at that time.Gershon Shafir, Land, Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 1882-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
It was a fatal mistake since Israel has inherited and mainly implemented the Ottoman Land Law as the only preceding law frame. While determining the land ownership Israel relied mainly on Tabu recordings whereas most of the Bedouin land fell under the Ottoman class of 'non-workable' (mawat) land and thus belonged to the state under Ottoman law. Moreover, Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands, using The Land Rights Settlement Ordinance from 1969.(Hebrew) Dr. Tobi Fenster, A summary stance paper on Bedouin land issues, written for "Sikkuy - for equal opportunity"
Israel's policies regarding the Negev Bedouin at first included regulation and re-location. During the 1950s Israel has re-located two-thirds of the Negev Bedouins into an area that was under a martial law. Bedouin tribes were concentrated in the Siyagh (Arabic for "the permitted area") triangle of Beer Sheva, Arad and Dimona.Rebecca Manski."Criminalizing Self-Subsistence" ; News from Within, Summer 2006 In 1966 they were given Israeli citizenship and the state has started to build planned townships for them.
Government-planned townships
Between 1968 and 1989 Israeli government established urban townships especially for the Bedouin tribes of the Negev. Within a few years, half of the Bedouin population moved into the seven townships built for them. The largest Bedouin locality in Israel is the city of Rahat, it was established in 1971. Other towns include Tel as-Sabi (Tel Sheva) (established in 1969), Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom) in 1979, Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev) and Kuseife in 1982, Lakiya in 1985 and Hura in 1989.Rebecca Manski. "THE NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IN BEDOUIN URBAN TOWNSHIPS: THE END OF SELF-SUBSISTENCE" ; Life and Environment, 2006 (translation from Hebrew) But not all the Bedouin desired urban life.
Unrecognized villages Those Bedouin who resisted sedentarization remained in their old scattered villages which are not recognized by the Israeli government and are thus ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash-pickup."Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s Unrecognized Bedouin Villages" ; Human Rights Watch, March 2008 Volume 20, No. 5(E). Whole report: (PDF, 5.4 MiB) Some Bedouin insist on remaining in unrecognized villages in the hope of retaining their traditions and customs.
Many of the unrecognized Bedouin communities were created in the 1950s when the Israeli army resettled Bedouin from the Sinai desert. Construction in them was carried out sporadically, without any centralized planning, so, for example, no place was left for the community objects, such as schools, clinics or community centers.
Israeli government uses different means in order to attract the Bedouin into the planned settlements, both pleasant and unpleasant. For instance, it offers land lots at very attractive pricesIn Hura an 800 square meters land lot costs 60-65 thousand shekels ($15-16 thousand) for clan members or 22 thousand shekels ($5.5 thousand) for a demobilized soldier. Clan members’ transition to the village of Houra and different bonuses. But sometimes the state is forced to implement coercive measures. Following the court order and all the legal procedure it demolishes houses built illegally on what it considers to be state lands. This is done in order to implement law and order in the Negev, as well as to build new settlements both for Jews and for the Bedouin, and improve life conditions of the Bedouin by moving them to townships with a developed infrastructure.
The villages represented by the council are: A-Sayed, Abdeh, Abu Qrinat, Abu Tlul, Albqiaa, Al Baht, Al Behireh, Al Furaa, Al Ghara, Al Grein, Al Humra, Al Mazraa\ Jabel Daya, Al Mkimen, Al Rois, Al Sireh, Al-Ser, Al Zaarurah, Al Zarnuq, Al-Shahabi\ Abu-Tlul, Am Albdun, Am Ratam, Asadir, Atir – Im el-Hiran, Awajan, Baht al-Siraya, Bir el-Hamam, Bir el-Mshash, Bir Hadaj, Dahiye, Drijat, Elaraqib, Hashemzaneh, Hirbat al-Watan, Kaser a-Sir, Karkur, Kuhleh, Kurnub, Mackhul, Qatamat\ al Mathar, Rahameh, Ras Jeraba, Saaweh, Sawawin, Tarabin, Tel Arad, Tel el-Maleh, Um Alhiran, Um Batin, Um el-Mileh, Um Mitnan, Wadi el-Mshash/ Alshraiqiya, Wadi el-Naam, Wadi Halil.
Formation The RCUV was formed in the aftermath of 1996 events in the unrecognized village of Umm Batin. A group of local residents tried to resist government's demolition of houses built as a result of squatters' housing. During the relocation of the Bedouin and their active resistance three people were injured, including a child. Following this event, RCUV was created. It consisted of a local committee of traditional leaders joined by several "community professionals".
The founders of the RCUV soon after took on developing a "Plan for the Development of Municipal Authority for the Arab Bedouin of the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev", as an alternative to the Israeli government's standard approach to relocation of residents of the unrecognized villages against their will.
According to Human Rights Watch, when the Israeli Southern District Outline Plan (Tamam 4/14/2001) was first formulated, it completely ignored the existence and needs of the Bedouin in the unrecognized villages. After the Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court in cooperation with the RCUV and the villagers it seeks to represent, the planning authorities acknowledged that Tamam had discriminated against the Bedouin.
In July 2001 government planners agreed to meet with community representatives. However, Human Rights Watch says this process dragged on for over seven years, and despite some improvements, in 2008 the Plan still ignored the needs of most of the unrecognized villages."Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel's Unrecognized Bedouin Villages" ; Human Rights Watch, March 2008
Establishment of Abu Basma Regional Council
Answering the housing need of the Negev Bedouin and as a part of the policy of step-by-step recognition of the unrecognized communities where it is possible, the State of Israel went on and initiated a creation of a new regional council whose sole purpose was to unite all the Bedouin communities that previously did not belong to other municipalities in order to solve their problems in a more organized way.
On September 29, 2003 Israeli government has adapted a new "Abu Basma Plan" (Resolution 881), according to which a new Abu Basma Regional Council was formed, unifying a number of unrecognized Bedouin settlements.Beduin in Limbo The Jerusalem Post, 24 December 2007 This resolution also regarded the need to establish seven new Bedouin settlements in the Negev,Government resolutions passed in recent years regarding the Arab population of Israel Abraham Fund Initiative literally meaning the official recognition of unrecognized settlements, providing them with a municipal status and consequently with all the basic services and infrastructure. The council was established by the Interior Ministry on 28 January 2004.The Bedouin Population in Transition: Site Visit to Abu Basma Regional Council Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, 28 June 2005