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Support the Residents of Al-Arakib in Palestine!

Support the Residents of Al-Arakib in Palestine!

312 signatures 188 to reach 500
S
Sue K. signed
N
nzggandr signed
A
Ana I. signed
Y
Yasser i. signed
S
Someone signed
N
Nikolas W. signed
L
leah v. signed
C
Catalina M. signed
W
waille f. signed
A
Anne B. signed
Started by Anonymous 15 years, 6 months ago
We the undersigned stand in solidarity with the Bedouin-Palestinian residents of the village of Al-Arakib, in southern Palestine (within the so-called "green line" and under Israeli sovereignty). We stand by the rights of the Bedouin-Palestinian people to live on their ancestral lands, in the houses build by their own hands, free from repression and violence. We also stand by the right of these villagers to receive full infrastructures and amenities as befitting the citizens of a modern country. During the past six months, this village, which was initially destroyed in 1948 and rebuilt in the 1990's, was repeatedly demolished by the Israeli authorities. The Israeli state used heavy equipment and massive numbers of heavily-armed cops to crush the locals' resistance and wreck the village. It should be noted that even before its demolition, Al-Arakib was not recognized by the state authorities, and therefore was not provided with even the most basic amenities and infrastructures such as modern sewage facilities, proper roads, regular water supply or electricity. But the worst attack - the eighth since July 2010 - occurred on January 16th, 2011. Massive Israeli Police forces descended on Al-Arakib, attacked the locals with rubber bullets and billy clubs, demolished the meager houses of the village and leveled the land flat, leaving the villagers without a roof over their heads in the middle of the desert, exposed to the elements. The Israeli government plans to plant a forest over Al-Arakib's lands in the near term, but on the long term, the state-machine plans to build an elite gated community, called Hiran, over these disputed lands. Hiran, funded by the US millionaire Ronald Lauder, will be an expensive real-estate project where residence will be restricted to religious Jews only. This is nothing but an act of racist violence against an indigenous people. We demand that the village of Al-Arakib will be recognized, its houses rebuilt at the government's expense, and proper infrastructure supplied to it for the benefits of its Bedouin-Palestinian residents!

Updates

Reached 250 supporters

January 19, 2011

January 18, 2011

Watching the latest reports coming out of the desert breaks my heart all over again. I have been spending my nights compiling documentation of these demolitions to send directly to human rights observers. Please keep reading the stories in the comments because forgetting what is happening to these families is the only way this cruelty continues.

Reached 100 supporters

January 18, 2011

January 17, 2011

The families in Al-Arakib are sleeping in the dirt while we watch the numbers grow toward our target. Reaching 250 signatures will force the local authorities to acknowledge that the world is paying attention to these repeated demolitions.

6 Comments

D
David Kapoor
15 years ago Featured

STOP THE DEMOLITIONS NOW. Its been years of the same thing and it just gets worse. Humanity needs to prevail here.

L
Leila Iyer
15 years ago Featured

Sending love to Al-Arakib. Dont give up.

Y
Yousef Wilkinson
15 years ago Featured

My family knows this pain firsthand. Keep fighting for the land.

E
Emma Sharma
15 years ago Featured

How can they leave people out in the desert like that. It is so cruel.

M
Mark Novak
15 years ago Featured

The world needs to see what is happening to these people. Just let them live in peace.

S
Sarah Zhang
15 years ago Featured

This is completely heartbreaking. Everyone deserves a place to call home and nobody should be treated like this.

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