Israel: Negev Bedouins' 'day of rage' over resettlement plan
Police used tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators in the Negev
Bedouin
Arabs living in Israel have been protesting in the Negev Desert and
towns and cities over government plans to resettle them.
Thousands joined what was termed a "day of rage" in the Negev itself, Haifa, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
The Bedouin say the plan will force them out of their ancestral land.
Israeli officials say it aims to provide better services and infrastructure - and settle long-standing land disputes.
Police in the Negev used tear gas and water cannon against
demonstrators, some of whom were throwing stones, reportedly injuring 15
officers.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that 28 people were arrested during protests in Haifa and the Negev village of Hura.
The resettlement plan - which envisages Bedouin being
re-housed in newly built state-planned towns - still has to pass two
more readings in parliament.
'Land grab'
An open letter
backing the campaign against the legislation, and signed by celebrities
including Peter Gabriel and Julie Christie, was published in a British
newspaper on Friday.
Before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, groups of
Bedouin Arabs lived a semi-nomadic life in the Negev but in modern
times many have settled in what are known as "unrecognised villages".
Because they have no formal planning status, they have no
access to government services including supplies of electricity and
running water. Some are no more than collections of flimsy shacks made
from corrugated iron.
However, the Bedouin and their supporters see the
resettlement move as a smokescreen for a programme to cut the historic
links between the Arab communities and their land, and to replace them
with new Jewish settlements.
Israeli officials say the plan calls for the vast majority of
Bedouin to live where they are, while allowing them to preserve their
traditions in a modern state.