By Rina Rosenberg | International Advocacy Director
Between October and December 2014, Adalah initiated various legal actions on behalf of Arab Bedouin citizens in the Naqab to defend their right to live on their ancestral land. The State of Israel is attempting to forcefully evict the Bedouins and confiscate their lands in order to build Israeli Jewish-only communities and military complexes. Adalah’s lawyers represent Bedouin citizens before Israeli courts and state authorities to cancel demolition orders against their homes, and to acquire basic services such as schools, roads, clinics and others in order to establish infrastructure that keep the lands in Bedouin hands while asserting their fundamental right to these services as citizens of the state. Below are three examples of our recent cases:
Saving Atir/Umm el-Hieran: For over a decade, Adalah has represented the residents of the twin villages of Atir and Umm el-Hieran against the state’s plans to expand a forest and build a Jewish town on their lands. From October to December 2014, Adalah submitted motions to the Supreme Court and the lower courts, as well as letters to the state, to deter the implementation of demolition and evictions orders. Currently, the home demolition orders have been frozen until mid-March 2015.
Safe roads to schools: In December 2014, Adalah sent a legal letter to the Israeli Ministries of Transportation and Education and the Al-Kassoum Regional Council, demanding the opening of safe roads to schools in the unrecognized Bedouin villages of Al Amal and Tal-Arad. Without paved roads, the paths to the schools are treacherous in the winter, as they become flooded and the students and teachers are unable to reach them.
Establishing a health clinic: In December 2014, Adalah sent a legal letter to the Israeli Deputy Minister of Health and to the Clalit Health Services, demanding the establishment of a health clinic for the Bedouin residents of the villages of Kahla (Kohleh) and Makhool (total population almost 2,000). Under current circumstances, village residents have to travel to the town of Kessife, 9 km away, to receive medical treatment.
This legal work is made possible through your contributions via Global Giving – thank you! As we continue our work in 2015, we hope that you will help us reach our goal of raising $20,000 so that Adalah can continue to support the Bedouin community with high-quality legal representation, in-depth study tours for influential stakeholders, and practical human rights workshops for Bedouin activists. Together we improve the services provided and halt the ongoing forced displacement, and ensure that the Bedouin can remain in their homes and on their lands with dignity.
Please join us, and thank you for calling on your friends to stand with Adalah, and stand for Justice!
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