The proposed policies will need to redress a historical injustice that has continued for many
years, and thus these policies must be based on the principles of equality, distributive justice,
and transitional justice along with recognition of the traditional ownership rights of the
Bedouin homeland minority
In the first stage, we propose to map out all the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the
Negev, using the standard, egalitarian planning and zoning measures used in Israel today (to
which end we can rely on the maps and plans of the Regional Council of Unrecognized
Bedouin Villages.) The purpose of this is to arrange the planning and zoning status of the
unrecognized villages so they can officially appear on regional and national master plans.
This is critical, so that the regional development plan will be based on current
facts-on-the-ground, and so that future development will not require the uprooting of extant
Bedouin settlements. In parallel, steps should be taken to remove the zoning and planning
obstacles that prevent the Negev Bedouin from realizing their most basic rights (e.g. right to
education, right to health) in an equal manner to their Jewish Israeli counterparts. Bedouin
residents should not have to rely on temporary buildings until the completion of the
recognition process and the full zoning of their villages. In the second stage, we propose
that the state recognize the historical property rights of the Bedouin Arab population to their
ancestral lands, and reach a decision regarding their ownership lawsuits according to legal
mechanisms (to be established) based on traditional Bedouin evidentiary law. We also
propose the creation of legal mechanisms that will allow for monetary compensation of
persons whose land was expropriated for public use, when there is no possibility of
returning that land to its owners. In the third stage, we propose to advance a detailed
regional master plan that would provide reasonable and equitable solutions to the basic
needs of the unrecognized villages. Such a plan should allow for different types of
settlement (e.g. agricultural settlements, communal settlements, and shepherding
communities) that would address the needs of various communities while respecting their
culture.
Finally, we recommend the state of Israel to stop immediately home demolitions.
Thanks you