Summary

Over the past few months, Jahalin

Bedouin have remained under
sustained pressure by the Israeli
military to relocate outside the
planned route of the Wall and
the area set for the construction of
the new E1 colony (settlement).
Their forced relocation to land
belonging to other Palestinian
villages would cause tension with
local communities, constitute
forced displacement and would be
detrimental to their semi-nomadic
way of life. As available land
shrinks, Bedouin refugees are faced
with nowhere to go.
The case brought by residents
of Abu Dis concerning the Wall
route near their village, which
may also impact the Bedouin
communities living nearby, was
heard by the Israeli High Court in
June, 2007. The Court ruled at
the beginning of August that the
Defence Minister (Mr. Barak) had
45 days to review the Wall route
in this area and advise the Court
as to whether or not it could and
should be changed. Depending
on the opinion of Minister Barak,
the Wall may be re-routed further
away from the village of Abu Dis,
which could also allow nearby
Jahalin communities (around 10) to
remain where they currently reside.
If the Minister does not change the
route of the Wall, construction will
go as planned and these Bedouin
communities will most certainly be
forcibly displaced within the next
few months.
Meanwhile, Jahalin Bedouin are
seeking ways to improve their
general living conditions. A number
of communities living in the area,
and in particular near Kedar, have
appealed to local and international
organizations to support projects
that will contribute to improving
their conditions. They have
identified the most pressing needs of
their communities: water, electricity
(generator), and education for
their children. Projects should help
the Bedouin to build sustainable
livelihoods. The Jahalin welcome
and are happy to host visitors,
in the longstanding traditions of
ancient Bedouin hospitality.
As the world, and this region
specifically, faces increasing
pressure on receding water resources
and gradual desertification, these
indigenous survivors of desert will
be sorely needed for their wisdom
and advice as to how to survive
in extreme desert conditions. We
shall miss and value them. When
it is too late?
 “Cease the con
struction of t
in the OPT, in he wall
and around Ea cluding in
dismantle th st Jerusalem,
situated and e structure
make reparatio therein
damage caused n for all
.”

“Actions
that chan
the demog g
raphic co e
of the O mposition
PT are viol
of human r
ights and ations
internati
humanita onal
rian law.”
This publication has been produced
by ICAHD’s Action Advocacy
Project, funded by Irish Aid,
Austrian Development Agency and
the Netherlands Representative
Office, as a resource supporting a
coalition of international and Israeli
organisations which advocates
for a just settlement for Jahalin
Bedouin refugees (originally from
the Negev) who face eviction
due to the route of the Ma’ale
Adumim “Separation Wall.” The
views herein are those of ICAHD
and others in the coalition, and
can therefore in no way be taken
to reflect the official opinion of
Irish Aid, Austrian Development
Agency or the Netherlands
Representative Office.

Editor: Angela Godfrey-Goldstein

Graphics: Olga Goltser
Photos: ActiveStills Co-operative P.O.B. 2030, Jerusalem
www.activestills.org Tel: +972-2-624-5560,
[See Endnote, p.48] E-mail: info@icahd.org
Printer: Bracha Print Website: www.icahd.org

Nowhere to go
Bedouin expelled
by Ma’ale Adumim Wall
Arnon Regular
September 23, 2005
In early January 1999 the bulldozers
of Israel’s Civil Administration
(CA) mounted a hill next to the
main dump of Abu Dis, the final
resting place of most of the garbage
from the Jerusalem area. They
began preparing for the construction
of a “model village” about half a
kilometer west of Ma’ale Adumim.
Dozens of housing lots were allocated
to the Jahalin after the Bedouin tribe
lost a five-year legal battle against its
expulsion from the land on which new
neighborhoods of Ma’ale Adumim
were built. The Israeli authorities,
with the Israel Defense Forces and
6
the CA taking the lead, had by then
evacuated hundreds of Bedouin from
their homes. They demolished the
shanties, tents and caves they had
been living in for decades and moved
them into shipping containers. Under
international pressure, the High
Court of Justice - which had ruled
on at least 11 petitions submitted by
the tribe - stopped the work and
ordered the IDF and the CA to
negotiate with the Jahalin.
The final result, achieved through
the work of the CA, Maj. Gen.
(res.) Rafael Vardi, and the State
Prosecutor’s Office, on the Israeli
side, and the tribe’s attorney, Shlomo
Lecker, was an unprecedented deal
including terms that until then had
only been offered to Jewish settlers.
The new village contained 120 plots
for 120 families of 2-dunam (1/2
acre), 1-dunam and half-dunam
sizes with 49-year leases and an
additional 49-year rental-extension
option, signed by the Israel Lands
Administration. About 100 homes
have been completed or are now
under construction.
The tribe, most of whose members
had been expelled by force from the
area of the neighborhood once know
as “06” in Ma’ale Adumim, received
monetary compensation for the move
to their new location. Families with
more than four children received NIS
38,000, smaller families received
NIS 28,000. A total of NIS 4
million was allocated to the families
for the construction, in addition to
about 3,000 dunams (750 acres) of
pasture land.
Until last July, the arrangement was
being implemented as planned. The
Jahalin left Ma’ale Adumim and the
real-estate sharks made a fortune
from the land they once occupied.
Most of the Bedouin understood that
the deal benefited them, even though
in effect they were expelled from their
lands. The Bedouin, just like their
7
neighbors, want to live in peace and
ensure their future.
The new village is sandwiched between
the threatening, frantic urban mode
of Israeli life in Ma’ale Adumim and,
on the Palestinian side, the towns of
Al-Azariya and Abu Dis. Most of
the families who moved there were
destitute before. They built large
homes and their economic situation
greatly improved. A mosque was built
in the center of the village, on top of
the hill, and there are already schools
for the children, but the villagers are
also trying to hold onto the remnants
of their old world. They put up goat-
hair tents in their yards, and there
are shelters for sheep and goats here
and there.
Rummaging in the landfill
In terms of employment, the Jahalin
are more similar to nomads who live
on the edges of the cities. Some work
as construction-site guards in Ma’ale
Adumim, some transport water to
the village and its environs, others
salvage metal from old IDF wrecks
in the nearby target-practice zones,
and there are a few who have chosen
the traditional profession of smuggling
goods from Jordan. But the most
popular occupation is rummaging in
the nearby landfill.
In recent years the value of the land
has increased dramatically, making
the parties to the arrangement wealthy
in comparison to their previous
condition. One dunam costs about
100,000 Jordanian dinars (about
NIS 650,000). In recent weeks,
however, as a result of the visits by
the CA, the villagers have discovered
that their “model village” is slated to
be beyond the planned route of the
separation fence and to be annexed
to Abu Dis. That knowledge strikes
fear in the hearts of the Bedouin.
8
Although the CA transferred “state
lands” to the tribe in order to ensure
its members’ welfare, the residents
of Abu Dis view these lands as
their own property which the CA
expropriated forcibly from them. The
Jahalin fear that as soon as the fence
is finished the original owners of the
lands in Abu Dis will demand that
they leave.
The villagers have already received
threatening hints about what will
happen once the fence is finished.
Abu Dis is a center of power for
the Palestinian Authority, including
the family of Prime Minister Ahmed
Qureia, a major landowner in the
area. Mohammed Khalil is one of the
mukhtars of the Jahalin village, and
the former manager of a company
that provided guards to building sites
in Ma’ale Adumim.
“First we were all forced to abandon
our previous way of life and to live
within a half-kilometer-square piece
of land,” Khalil says in response to
the future route of the fence. “Now
they want to build a wall that will cut
us off both from the desert and from
workplaces in Ma’ale Adumim and
to attach us to Abu Dis, with which
we have no regular contact and which
we don’t go into.”
In the past few months the CA has
been conducting a survey to determine
how many Bedouin are living within
the area that will be defined by the
planned fence. According to their
research, there are between 1,000
and 1,500 people who are not part
of the agreement hammered out
in the 1990s. These include the
Salamat clan (about 60 families); the
Hamadin (about 25 families), who
live in “Area C” which separates
Ma’aleh Adumim (to the south and
southwest) from the Jahalin village;
the Abu Dahuk and ‘Arara clans
9
(about 50 families), who live along
the Ma’ale Adumim-Jericho road and
near the Mishor Adumim industrial
area; and the Sayara clan, about 60
families that live in Wadi Al-Hindi,
near the Kedar settlement on the
south side of the fenced-in enclave of
Ma’ale Adumim.
‘Where will we go?’
In early July, the situation changed
for the people living within Area C
and those within the borders of the
planned fence. Inspectors from the CA
came and told them that the buildings
they were living in were illegal and
that the CA views them as squatters
trespassing on state land. These visits
continued for a few weeks. Earlier this
month, the inspectors returned with
evacuation and demolition orders.
An examination by Haaretz revealed
that at least 66 such orders were
issued to the Salamat and Hamadin
clans living in Area C. Each order
specified the buildings, huts, wells
and livestock shelters.
The home of Mohammed Hamadin,
34 and a father of six, consists of
a series of shacks. It is midway
between Ma’ale Adumim and the
Jahalin village. Hamadin jokes that
his diwan, the room in Arab homes
that serves as the parlor, rates five
stars on the Bedouin scale: carpets
that are carefully arranged and well
brushed, a stand for the television
and the stereo.
“I don’t want houses or money,” he
says, with a hint at his fellow Jahalin
in the village. “Wouldn’t it be a
pity to demolish a home like this?
At first they came and started taking
pictures of the huts and everything.
Now they’ve issued 12 orders for
all the huts. Later they started
putting up random checkpoints on
the access road. All at once we’ve
gotten nervous. Where will we go?
The flocks go east into the desert,
and when the wall is built they won’t
have anywhere to go and neither will
we. We were here before the people
10
of Kedar and even before the people
of Ma’ale Adumim. So move them
to somewhere else.”
The residents of other tents in the
same area are frightened by the
thought of having to evacuate soon,
even though they have not received
orders yet. Abu Yosef Saraya, the
mukhtar of the residents of Wadi
Al-Hindi - located in the desert a
few hundred meters below the homes
of Kedar - underwent demolitions
and demolition attempts in 1997.
Despite it all, he managed to build
an elementary school and to keep his
extended family together.
“We didn’t ask for the residents
of Kedar or Ma’ale Adumim to
leave, so why are we being asked to
go?” Saraya asks. “If we are forced
westward, no one will let us in. And
to the east there’s a firing zone that
no one can enter. Only the CA
knows where it wants to send us.”
A few weeks ago the CA began
negotiating with the Jahalin mukhtars
in an attempt to reach an agreement
over their evacuation, but their
lawyer terms the offers proposed so
far “shameful.” According to one of
the proposals, the tribe would move
south to what is called state land
east of Sawahra Al-Sharqiya, whose
residents are also Bedouin. Hamadin
rejects this option, explaining that it
will create more problems. He says
that Sawahra alone has 12,000 heads
of cattle and that the residents must
bring in water from Al-Azariya. He
fears conflicts over water.
The areas in which the 66 evacuation
and demolition orders have been
issued are those that are supposed to
be defined by the separation fence in
the vicinity of Ma’ale Adumim, and
no further warning is required before
they are implemented. In theory, the
IDF and the CA can begin tearing
down the structures as soon as they
are issued. Both the Bedouin and
military sources say that the main
purpose of the measure is to clear
out all of the Bedouin tents from the
planned enclave of Ma’ale Adumim.
After the fence is built, the residents
of Area C and the other areas,
defined by the CA as “trespassers on
state land,” will be driven out of the
place they lived in for decades and it
is not clear where they will go. And
unlike the residents of the Jahalin
village, these people are devoted to
their old customs. They have large
flocks of sheep and goats, and the
fence is likely to pose an even more
serious threat to their way of life.
11
The Civil Administration:
Enforcing law and order
The CA said in response to this article
that “for several years the Bedouin
have been squatting on state land and
building illegally. The administration
is acting in coordination with the
heads of the Jahalin tribe and their
attorney in order to enforce law and
order. As part of the enforcement
activities, the Bedouin have been
given alternative plots on state land.
The administration even undertakes
the connection of the plots to the
water supply and builds access roads,
provides aid with respect to structures
used as classrooms, kindergartens
and a clinic, and in addition
provides monetary compensation.
The administration will continue to
take action to evacuate the illegal
squatters.”
Lecker: ‘Chutzpah’
Lecker, who has been representing
the Jahalin since the mid-1990s,
says that “the Civil Administration
and the Israel Defense Forces keep
accusing the Jahalin of “trespassing
on state lands” despite the fact that
they have been here for decades.
The plan for the separation fence
at Ma’ale Adumim is a plan with
chutzpah that has absolutely nothing
to do with security. The main
victims are the Jahalin - a relatively
weak and disunited population. The
implementation of this plan will in
effect drive them out of the area.”
Interview with members of the
Jahalin Bedouin Community near
Ma’ale Adumim and Abu Dis
This excerpt is from a September
2006 report “Displaced by the
Wall – Forced Displacement
as a Result of the West
Bank Wall and its Associated
Regime” published jointly
by Badil Resource Center
and the Norwegian Refugee
Council/IDMC, the Internal
Displacement Monitoring
Centre.
The entire report is available in
pdf file version at:
http://www.badil.org/
Publications/Books/Wall-
Report.pdf
12
A) Background on the
Jahalin Bedouin
The Jahalin Bedouin are 1948
refugees originating from the area of
Beersheba in the Naqab (Negev).
The Jahalin Bedouin initially found
shelter in the Hebron Governorate.
In the 1960s they moved into
the hilly Judean desert between
Jerusalem and Jericho, next to
Road No. 1. While all Jahalin
Bedouin are 1948 refugees, only
80 to 85 percent are registered with
UNRWA. Bedouin live a semi-
nomadic lifestyle and – based on
custom and tradition – use land
they perceive as ‘empty’, i.e. not
privately owned or used for crops.
The Jewish colony of Ma’ale
Adumim was built in 1976.1 In
1996 and 1998, Jahalin Bedouin
families were forced to relocate on
so-called security grounds from the
vicinity of Ma’ale Adumim to the
Palestinian communities of Abu
Dis and Al-Azariya. Remaining
Bedouin families who were not
issued an expulsion order stayed in
the area around Ma’ale Adumim.
However, as the colony expanded,
and especially since the beginning
of the construction of the Wall,
they too face displacement.
An additional problem is the
The Wall will include Ma’ale possibility of life on the garbage
Adumim and the E1 Block2 in dump in Abu Dis; the land is
Israeli-annexed Jerusalem, thus contaminated and even if the dump
once more redrawing the boundaries is closed and covered with earth, the
of Israel’s Jerusalem municipality. area will remain uninhabitable for
Approximately 3,000 Bedouin in several years. Moreover, ownership
the Ma’ale Adumim area are at of the land is contentious; the
risk of being forcibly displaced in Israeli government argues it is state
this context. An Israeli military land, while the municipality of Abu
order was given to some families Dis says it is theirs. A court case
stipulating that the Ma’ale Adumim is pending as to the ownership of
area must be empty of Bedouin by the land.
2007. An Israeli lawyer has taken
the case of the Bedouin to the Living conditions are also harsh
Israeli High Court but a hearing is at the site near Ma’ale Adumim.
still pending. The lawyer aims to Without electricity and often
either move the route of the Wall without running water, a two-hours’
so that the Bedouin can remain donkey ride away from the closest
in a small area outside Ma’ale urban area, and with no access
Adumim, or – at least – obtain to essential services, the Jahalin
compensation for their resettlement Bedouin live in “third world-like”
on Jerusalem’s municipal garbage conditions. Most of those visited
dump in Abu Dis. lack essential food and potable

13
water, basic shelter and housing,
appropriate clothing, and essential
medical services and sanitation.
Kedar colony’s sewerage runs
through the valley they inhabit.
A small school financed by the
Palestinian Authority and other
donors provides primary school
education. Children usually do not
continue their studies afterwards, as
there is no school nearby. Boys are
requested to help with the livestock
while it is not well-perceived for
girls to continue their education in
far away or co-ed schools. Most
families cannot afford to pay
for education. There are also a
number of cases of disabled and
handicapped children, reportedly
due to inter-marriage. Some
families have sent these children
to specialised centres, others
prefer to keep the children with
them, although no assistance or
specialised services are available.
14
B) Voices of Bedouin in
the Ma’ale Adumim area
Testimonies and accounts of the
Jahalin Bedouin in the area of the
Jewish colonies of Ma’ale Adumim
and Kedar and the Palestinian
town of Abu Dis were gathered
during a day-long visit to the area.
We visited two main gatherings
where four to six families reside.3
One interview was provided by the
head of the household, the second
account was given by women. The
United Nations Office for the Co-
ordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) facilitated access and
discussion with the different families
living in the Ma’ale Adumim
“enclave”, which otherwise would
have been inaccessible; the area is
controlled by an Israeli checkpoint,
and only UN or other essential
vehicles (e.g. water tanks) are
allowed in. These Jahalin Bedouin
are located in an area which will be
completely encircled by the Wall;
all of them hold West Bank ID
cards.
Leave us alone to live
our lives
The head of the family conveyed
that:
the Wall is a way to grab land,
it is not about security. It rather
puts Palestinians in closed areas,
prevents them from conducting
their activities and destroys their
social life.
We fear that we will be forced
to move. Our way of life, raising
livestock and collecting plants, is all
we have. We do not want to and
cannot adapt to a life in a village
or town. I am convinced that the
only way to counter the threat of
displacement is through the Israeli
High Court.4 I have no faith in
the power or the willingness of the
international community to address
this injustice and our problems.
15
If there is no choice and we are
relocated, we don’t want to be
moved to the site of the garbage
dump. It should at least be to a
healthy place. Also we don’t want
to be moved to land that belongs
to Abu Dis. We have no money
to buy land, and are afraid that
our relocation in Abu Dis land will
create tensions with the community
there.
We men travel to towns and villages,
mainly Abu Dis and Al-Azariya,
on donkeys to go to work or buy
essential goods, while the women
and girls do not leave the house
often. I also disagree with the idea
of women studying at university or
working. Women only leave the
house once they are married or in
the company of men.
Of course, there is a problem
with health care. We travel to
see a doctor only in very serious
emergencies, such as snakebite or
heart attack. Israeli ambulances
are very expensive and medical
treatment as well. No doctor or
medical clinic comes to visit us
here. Still, my household is not in
need of humanitarian assistance,
although many other families are.
In the past, we had quite good
relations with the Jewish settlers;
16
the settlers were giving us water,
and their children played with
ours. But now, we no longer talk
to them, and the water from the
colony has been cut. I keep contact
with one settler only; I take care
of his cattle. Nobody ever gave a
hard time to the Bedouin, only the
Israelis.
All we are asking for is to be left
alone so we can continue living
here and keep our animals.”
We are women,
we want a better life!
Four to six women and some 25
children described their concerns
as follows:
Our life has always been difficult,
but the Wall has made it even
more difficult. Many of our men
have lost their jobs because of the
closures in this intifada, and our
economic situation has become
worse. The children have become
sick from the dust caused by the
construction of the Wall.
Only UNRWA, once or twice a
year, and OCHA come to visit
us. UNRWA brings wheat flour,
vegetable oil, and lentils, which is
not enough. Sometimes the food is
even expired. We leave our houses
17
only to buy essential goods, or if we
or one of the children need medical
treatment. Otherwise, we rarely go
out and never for fun. We mainly
take care of the children and the
animals. We don’t have money to
buy a variety of food. We have
plenty of bread and tea, but lack
vegetables and fruit.
We are women, and we want a better
life, especially for our children. Do
you think we like this life, to live
in this house and for our children
to be dirty? We would not mind
relocating somewhere else, as long
as our rights are respected and our
conditions improve.
We would also like to send our
children, including our daughters,
to school and university. People
should develop and adapt because
life is changing. The problem with
the men is that they do not say
the whole truth, because they are

narrow-minded and proud. Women
here marry young, at the age of
16–18, and have many children.
We would like to learn about
family planning. And we would like
more help from UNRWA, a small
health care centre, or visit from a
doctor. But we are not angry. We
know we are living difficult lives,
but we hope you can help us.
C) Voices from those
already displaced onto the
garbage dump in Abu Dis
After our visit of the Jahalin
community in the Ma’ale Adumim
area, we met Jahalin community
leaders (six men) who were forcibly
displaced in 1996 and 1998 as a
result of the expansion of Ma’ale
Adumim. Their community
comprises approximately 1,000
persons. They live in the area of
the Palestinian town of Abu Dis,
18
on the site of the garbage dump,
and near the Palestinian village of
Al-Azzariya.
In the winter of 1997, the Israeli
army arrived at their previous
location near Ma’ale Adumim with
approximately 2,000 soldiers and
bulldozed the shelters of around
35 families without prior warning.
With the support of peace groups,
they remained in the area, living
in the rubble of their shelters.
The Palestinian Authority hired
a lawyer and after a successful
court ruling, they were allowed to
rebuild. In 1998, however, a new
ruling from the Israeli High Court
ordered them to leave the area
for the security of the settlers of
Ma’ale Adumim.
The six men described the
experience of their community:
The families displaced in 1996
and 1998 received a small financial
compensation for their relocation,
between 15,000 and 30,000
NIS each (between $3,500 and
$7,000). We rent the land where
we currently live from the Israeli
government for 49 years, although
the land belongs to the municipality
of Abu Dis. This makes us feel
uncomfortable. Some families have
built houses, while others have
kept the old lifestyle and remained
in their tents and shacks.
Of course displacement has
changed our lifestyle, we have
become more settled and like city
people. But we insist in keeping
our cattle. And we think that
education is important, also for
women. In the past, there was the
idea that sending women out of the
house, to school for instance, was a
shame, but now, the mentality has
changed. A woman should take
care of herself the way she wants,
and in any case, she would not be
the only woman at university!
We worry what will happen if
more families will be moved to our
site. There is not enough space
for everybody. If all 3,000 or
so Jahalin are brought here, this
will prevent us from keeping our
cattle and lifestyle. Tensions with
residents from Abu Dis may also
arise as the land on which they
would be relocated belongs to the
municipality.
The biggest problems caused by
the Wall are that it closes the access
of our animals to grazing land and

19
that we cannot go to Jerusalem for
treatment at UNRWA clinics or
the hospital and for services. There
is also only a primary school (grade
1 to 6) in the neighbourhood and
it is not finished. Some families
have no cattle and no money to
buy food. UNRWA’s support has
been helpful for them.
We have formed a committee,
the Arab al Jahalin Committee
for Development, and we are
looking for new ideas and projects
to develop and improve our
community. We know that staff of
the UN and other organizations
are working hard, but we do not
see change or impact on our lives.
We have lost our faith in the UN
and its readiness to deal with the
reality on the ground.
Conclusion
The Wall and its associated
regime have aggravated division
20
and isolation among vulnerable
Palestinian populations. The
Wall causes stress and anxiety
and threatens traditional familial
relationships. The city of Jerusalem
has become further removed from
these Palestinians.
This fact affects all aspects of
their lives, from access to health
services to the choice of a spouse.
People’s lives have been changed;
the security and stability provided
by work and school, home
and neighbourhood, have been
shattered by the concrete Wall,
checkpoints and permits. Women’s
freedom of movement appears to
have become particularly reduced,
and many are feeling depressed
and powerless. The Wall and its
closure regime, combined with
increased unemployment, have
caused poverty and increased
financial stress on families.

While some people have already
been forced to move and are trying
to adapt, many are still awaiting
their fate in an uncertain future.
They do not know whether they
will be able to remain where they
currently reside, on which side of
the Wall they will live, or whether
they will eventually be expelled.
Still, they are determined to build
a better future, preserving their
lifestyle and a Palestinian presence
in Jerusalem. All of them wish for
international action and pressure on
Israel to dismantle the Wall and its
closure and permit system; many,
however, have lost faith that this
will happen.
1 “Ma’ale Adumim was originally founded by
a tiny group of settlers in 1976, but did not
begin to expand significantly until 1982. It
was at this time that the Israeli government
21
declared the area to be ‘State Land’, in spite of
the legal ownership of the Palestinian residents
of Abu-Dis. Despite being 4.5 kilometres
from Jerusalem, Ma’ale Adumim has been
promoted as the new eastern limit of the city.
Ma’ale Adumim is also slated to be the limit
of the newly-conceived ‘Greater Jerusalem’,
which is an Israeli plan to annex an enormous
area of the West Bank and to confirm its
1967 annexation of Arab East Jerusalem.”
Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ),
The Expansion of Ma’ale Adumim Colony
and the Expulsion of Jahalin (Bethlehem, 24
February 1997). Available at: http://www.
arij.org/paleye/maale/index.htm
2 “The E1 Plan calls for the largest single
settlement construction project in recent history.
Bulldozers begun to clear Palestinian land
north of the large Israeli settlement of Ma’ale
Adumim in December 2004 but it was only
on February 28 that the Israeli government
announced its intention of building at least
3,500 new housing units on the site. The
E1 Plan intends to appropriate approximately
12,500 dunums (125km2) of Palestinian
lands belonging to the Palestinian villages
of Al-Tur, ‘Anata, Al Eizaryieh, Abu Dis,
Al Essawyieh and Hizma.” Dr. Jad Isaac &
Fida Abdel Latif, Jerusalem: the strangulation
of the Arab Palestinian city, (Bethlehem:
Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ),
July 9, 2005). Available at: http://www.arij.
org/pub/Colonization in Jerusalem/index-
1.htm
3 The visit was conducted on Tuesday, 15
August 2006.
4 They have no help to pay for the Israeli
lawyer representing their case and this causes
great financial stress and pressure on all
families.

Negev desert
nomads on the
move again to
make way for
Israel’s barrier
Security fence and spread
of Jewish settlement risks
way of life for thousands
Rory McCarthy in Azariya
February 28, 2007
The bulldozers came for Hamid
Salim Hassan’s house just after
dawn. Before the demolition began,
the Bedouin family scrambled to
gather what they could: a fridge, a
pile of carpets, some plastic chairs,
22
a canister of cooking gas and a
metal bed frame.
Now, with their house a wreck
of smashed concrete and broken
plastic pipes, Mr Hassan and
his family are living in a canvas
tent on a neighbour’s land. Their
possessions are piled outside, along
with boxes of supplies, including
washing-up liquid, toothpaste,
corned beef, wheat flour and tomato
paste, provided by the International
Committee of the Red Cross.
His tent is small but it affords
Mr Hassan a compelling view of
the future. Stretched out before
him are the hilltops of the West
Bank where he and his family, all
Bedouin shepherds who fled Israel
in 1948, used to live and graze
their sheep. Standing there now is
Ma’ale Adumim, one of the largest
Jewish settlements which is illegal
under international law. Snaking
up the hillside towards his tent is
the West Bank barrier, also ruled
unlawful in advisory opinion by
the International Court of Justice.
When complete, the steel and
barbed wire barrier, which here will
be 50m wide and include a ditch
and patrol roads, will surround
Ma’ale Adumim, attaching it to a
greater Jerusalem.
For the 3,000 Bedouin living here,
most from the Jahalin tribe, this
presents an imminent crisis. “They
came and destroyed my house
to protect their wall,” said Mr
Hassan, 62. “They really don’t
have enough land already that
they had to come and destroy my
house? We’ve lost everything.”
Earlier this month the Israeli
military destroyed seven huts and
tents belonging to Bedouin living
near a settlement in Hebron, in
the southern West Bank. Another
group of Bedouin living further
east in the Jordan Valley have
23
been given two months to leave
their homes near an Israeli military
base and a Jewish settlement.
In each case the Israeli authorities
argue the homes have been built
without permits, but Palestinians
say they are notoriously hard to
obtain.
Bedouin culture has been eroded
as a result. Refugees from the
Negev desert in Israel who
crossed after 1948, their grazing
land has been squeezed by the
growth of Palestinian towns, the
rapid emergence of large Jewish
settlements and lately the vast
concrete and steel barrier. Most
Bedouin live on land that under
the Oslo accords was supposed
to be unpopulated farmland where
Israel has civilian and military
control. Today most live in
primitive shacks, many no longer
keep animal herds and they have
little in the way of formal land
ownership documents. They have
become one of the most vulnerable
Palestinian communities.
Open and free
Mr Hassan, 62, was born in
Be’er Sheva, in what is now Israel.
His family crossed during the
1948-9 war and moved to land
near Azariya, the biblical town of
Bethany, near Jerusalem. For years
they continued their semi-nomadic
existence, grazing their large flock
of sheep on the hillside. In 1975 a
group of 23 Jewish families founded
the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim,
which has grown into a town of
35,000 people. Mr Hassan and
other Bedouin were forced off the
land. Most set up shacks on another
hilltop. Ten years ago Mr Hassan
found the money to buy a plot
of land and built a house, giving
up his Bedouin existence. “Life
changes,” he said. “We had no
other choice.” His seven children,
24
including his daughters, went to
school and college, integrating into
a new urban life.
Other Bedouin have also changed
and work as construction labourers,
many even employed in Ma’ale
Adumim, building the settlement
that has taken the land they once
lived on.
“In the past people envied our
lifestyle. The land was open
and free. There were sheep and
we were rich,” said his brother
Saeed Hassan Salim, 50. “The
occupation put us out of business.
The Bedouin life is slipping away.”
He now lives in a small shack that
stands directly in the path of the
barrier and is almost certain to be
demolished soon.
“It seems the whole presence in
this area is about to disappear,”
said Jeremy Milgrom, 53, a rabbi
and human rights activist who
has worked with the Bedouin
here for 15 years and is mapping
their remaining communities. “We
are asking why it is this has to
happen. Why did the government
assume the prerogative that they
can absolutely redesign the entire
landscape and eliminate the
Bedouin?”
The Israeli military’s civil
administration, which runs the
West Bank, says the Bedouin
were being offered alternatives.
“They came and illegally put up
their houses and tents. So we
are working against this illegal
construction,” said its spokesman
Captain Tsidki Maman. “We are the land for years. “The Bedouin
helping them to find a place where are travelling all the time. They
it will be OK for them to settle.” can’t say they’ve been here for
The areas under consideration are decades. It’s not like this,” he
all on the other side of the barrier said.
from the Jewish settlements. In the late 1990s there was a similar
Capt Maman rejected the Bedouin move against the Bedouin around
argument that they have lived on Ma’ale Adumim and several of

25
their homes were demolished. But
supported by Shlomo Lecker, an
Israeli lawyer, the Bedouin were
given a deal under which they
would move to a new area, with
plots of land, building permits
and up to 40,000 shekels (then
₤7,000) per family. Around 50
families took up the offer, and
now live in an area known as the
Jebel. However, the deal was not
without its problems: the houses
are within a few hundred metres
of Jerusalem’s main rubbish dump
and on land that other Palestinians
claim as their own.
Power and water
The prospect of another move is
being hotly debated within the
Bedouin community. For some it
is an opportunity to upgrade to
houses with electricity and running
water. Others say they would
rather move into Palestinian towns
26
like Azariya but lack the money,
while others still want to stay on
their land and cling to what is left
of their traditional lifestyle.
Mr Lecker, the lawyer, said in
reality they will have little choice
but to move. “They are being
forced. They don’t have another
option,” he said. “All these shacks
are built without permits and there
is a lot of pressure on them.”
Israel defends the barrier on the
grounds of security, saying it has
drastically reduced the number of
suicide bombings. But Mr Lecker
said: “There is absolutely no
reason to build the wall there. This
is to do with taking a huge chunk
of land and making it part of a
wider Jerusalem. It is the idea of
taking the land without the people.
Why not give them rights in Israel
- identity cards, electricity and
water? The land comes with the
people and if you take the land
and push out the people then what
do you call it?”

Backstory
Bedouin shepherds have lived a
nomadic or semi-nomadic life in
the Negev desert for centuries.
After the 1948-9 war, when Israel
was created, many were forced out
or fled. Around 140,000 now live
in the Negev, in Israel. Some serve
in the Israeli military but around
half live in villages not recognised
by the state where they lack basic
services and building permits.
Those that fled Israel crossed to
Jordan, Egypt or the Palestinian
territories of Gaza and the West
were moved to make way for the
Bank. In the West Bank, around
settlement. Now other homes are
3,000 members of the Jahalin tribe
being demolished, to make way for
live next to land taken by the Jewish
the West Bank barrier.
settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. In
the 1990s several Bedouin families Guardian Unlimited © 2007

27
Urgent Appeal to United Nations
Urgent appeal on the situation of the Jahalin
Bedouin living in the occupied Palestinian territory
and threatened by forced displacement
Friday, 6 July 2007

Communication to:
Representative of the Secretary-
General on the human rights of
internally displaced persons,
Mr. Walter Kalin.
Special Representative to the
Secretary-General for children
and armed conflict,
Mrs. Radhika Coomeraswamy.
Special Rapporteur on adequate
housing as a component of the
right to an adequate standard of
living, and on the right to non-
discrimination in this context,
Mr. Miloon Kothari.
Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the
Palestinian territories occupied
since 1967,
Mr. John Dugard.
Special Rapporteur on the
situation of the human rights
and fundamental freedoms of
indigenous people,
Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen.

28
1. Introduction
This urgent appeal is brought
by Agricultural Development
Association (PARC), Al Haq,
Applied Research Institute -
Jerusalem (ARIJ), Badil Resource
Center for Palestinian Residency
and Refugee Rights, Defence for
Children International/Palestine
Section (DCI), Ensan Center for
Democracy and Human Rights,
The Israeli Committee Against
House Demolitions (ICAHD),
and the Jerusalem Legal Aid
Center (JLAC) on behalf of the
Jahalin Bedouin community and
residents of the villages of Abu Dis,
Al ‘Zaryya, Eastern Sawahrah, Al
Za’ym, and Sheikh Sa’ad in the
occupied Palestinian territories.
The petitioners are the Jahalin
Bedouin, who face arbitrary
displacement as a result of home
demolitions and restricted access
to land and essential services,
and the residents of the villages
of Abu Dis, Al ‘Zaryya, Eastern
Sawahrah, Al Za’ym, and Sheikh
Sa’ad. The Bedouin and the
villagers are affected by the E1
plan (the planned construction of
a new settlement east of Jerusalem,
labelled by Israel as an expansion
of the Jewish settlement of Ma’ale
Adumim) and the construction of
the Wall in the occupied West
Bank.1
The E1 plan and the route of
the Wall around the E1-Ma’ale
Adumim settlement block, if
implemented, will encompass
52km2 and over 50,000 Jewish
settlers, de facto annexing this
part of the occupied West Bank
to Israel’s ‘Greater Jerusalem’.2
This will require the removal of
the Jahalin Bedouin, who live a
traditional semi-nomadic life in the
area, to permanent clusters planned
by Israel outside of the route of the
Wall. To this end, the Bedouin
are facing arbitrary displacement
and a threat to their traditional way
of life.
The affected Jahalin Bedouin
community includes up to 2,700
persons and is scattered among
31 localities on the hills and roads
in the desert around the Jewish
settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and
near the villages of Anata, Abu
Dis, and Al’ Zaryya (see annex
1). The Bedouin are a vulnerable
group because they are an
indigenous people, refugees (many
are both refugees and have been
internally displaced as well), and
they have no adequate housing nor
secure land tenure. The community
is largely made up of women and
children. The marginal status
30
of this community is reflected in
the lack of concrete data on this
population.3
Israel plans to displace the
Bedouin onto lands belonging to
the adjacent Palestinian villages
of Abu Dis, Anata, Al ‘Zaryya,
Eastern Sawahrah, Al Za’ym, and
Sheikh Sa’ad. These villages on
the eastern periphery of Jerusalem
are host communities to the Jahalin
Bedouin who live semi-nomadically
on their land. In some cases in the
past, the Bedouin were forcibly
displaced onto private properties
belonging to the residents of these
communities. These villages are
effectively surrounded by the Wall
and are affected in two ways: to
the West, they are cut off from
Jerusalem; and to the East, they will
be disconnected from other parts
of the West Bank, as the route of
the Wall will in the future sever
the central West Bank (greater
Jerusalem) from the northern and
southern parts, effectively dividing
the West Bank into three separate
segments.
All the Bedouin and surrounding
villages live under Israeli military
occupation and are protected
persons under international
humanitarian law.
2. Situation of the
Jahalin Bedouin and
adjacent villages
a) Legal Status
The Jahalin Bedouin are 1948
Palestinian refugees originating
from the area of Bir el Sabe’e
(Beersheva) in the Naqab
(Negev), now located in Israel.
While all Jahalin Bedouin are 1948
refugees, only 80 to 85 percent are
registered with UNRWA. Most
have subsequently been internally
31
displaced within the occupied
West Bank. The majority hold
West Bank identification cards.
Residents of the villages of
Abu Dis, Al ‘Zaryya, Eastern
Sawahrah, Al Za’ym, and Sheikh
Sa’ad hold either West Bank or
Jerusalem ID cards.
b) Living conditions
The living conditions of the
Bedouin have always been difficult,
but they are becoming harsher as
they are prevented from pursuing
their traditional way of life and
maintaining their livestock, their
main source of livelihood. The
Bedouin live a semi-nomadic life
based on custom and traditional use
of land for inhabiting and grazing.
Without electricity and often
without running water and with
little access to essential services,
the Jahalin Bedouin live in “Third
World-like” conditions. Many lack
essential food and potable water,
basic and habitable housing,
appropriate clothing, essential
medical services, sanitation, access
to educational services and secure
land tenure.
Since the implantation of Jewish
settlements in the West Bank in
the 1970s, the Bedouin have been
forced to alter their way of life, as
available land decreased and many
were displaced as a result of threats
and/or home demolitions. Many
now work or look for work in the
Jewish settlements and have become
semi-urbanized. The majority
struggle to preserve their livestock.
The lack of access to grazing land
combined with the presence of
the Wall and the permit system
has further affected the Bedouin’s
capacity to maintain their livestock
and earn a living. Bedouin women
used to sell their products (e.g.
cheese, yogurt, animal fat) in
32
Jerusalem neighborhoods, but
since the establishment of the
permit regime in the mid-1990s
and the construction of the Wall
in 2002, access to markets has
been substantially reduced. This
lack of access led to a reduction of
women’s freedom of movement and
a change in their socio-economic
role.
There are only two Palestinian
Authority (PA) primary schools
for the Jahalin Bedouin; one at
Wadi Abu Hindi which is attended
by around 100 children from grade
one to eight; and the other on the
hill (hereinafter Jabal) near Abu
Dis and Al ‘Zaryya which has
over 130 students. The school at
Wadi Abu Hindi is built of steel
and does not have electricity. Other
children go to more distant schools,
such as the Anata PA school or
the UNRWA ‘Qbit Jabir school
in Jericho. Access to educational
services has become more difficult
while the cost of transportation has
increased; children go by donkey or
by bus (which is very expensive)
or walk long distances. Children
usually do not continue their studies
after primary school because boys
seek work in the settlements or are
requested to help with the livestock
and it is not well-perceived for girls
to continue their education in far-
away or co-ed schools. Moreover,
most families cannot afford to pay
for education and/or transportation
fees. As a result, the illiteracy rate
is high, particularly among women
who often stop school at the 6th
grade.
Access to health care varies
according to the Bedouin’s
proximity to urban centers (Anata,
Al ‘Zaryya, Jerusalem, Jericho,
and Ramallah). Access to medical
centers has, however, become
33
more difficult and costly as a
result of movement restriction and
the Wall. Staff from UNRWA
medical clinics rarely visit Bedouin
communities, especially those in
remote locations. In the past, the
Bedouin used to go to hospital
in Jerusalem or to UNRWA
medical clinics, but that requires
a permit, which is increasingly
difficult to obtain.4 Restricted
access to Jerusalem has led to
many complications, particularly in
the provision of emergency medical
services. An 11-month old baby
died in January 2007 as a result of
breathing complications. The baby
needed urgent medical attention
and the family did not have time to
apply for a permit to access East
Jerusalem’s hospitals. Giving birth
has also become a problem, as
women require a permit to access
hospitals in East Jerusalem while
the nearest medical center may be
hours away if no car is available.
On some occasions, women deliver
at home or at checkpoints (five
reported cases of women giving
birth at checkpoints in Abu Dis
and nearby villages). Post-natal
care is practically nonexistent. In
a number of instances, ambulances
have been delayed or unable to
reach the hospital in Jerusalem,
leading to the death of heart patients
and to complications for children
injured in accidents. Bedouin who
can afford it are now going to
private clinics or to Ramallah for
medical treatment. In other cases,
lack of money and access prevents
them from reaching medical care
at all.
Some areas inhabited and used
by the Bedouin are polluted
by sewage from the Jewish
settlements, improper sanitation
34
and the Jerusalem garbage dump.
In Anata, there is open sewage;
and the Bedouin from Wadi Abu
Hindi and the Jabal live a few
hundred meters from the garbage
dump, which has contaminated
water and land and from which
emanates a very strong odor.
The adjacent villages of Anata,
Abu Dis, Al ‘Zaryya, Eastern
Sawahrah, Al Za’ym, and Sheikh
Sa’ad are cut off from Jerusalem
by the Wall, which means that
many inhabitants are unable to
visit their families or access their
workplace in Jerusalem and risk
losing their Jerusalem ID. Most
residents can only reach Jerusalem
through checkpoints; moreover,
holders of West Bank ID need
a permit, which is increasingly
difficult to obtain. A number
of holders of Jerusalem ID have
already moved west of the Wall
in order to preserve their right to
residency in the city.
c) Ongoing displacement
since 1948
The displacement of the Jahalin
Bedouin, which began in 1948,
has continued throughout the
1970s, and now threatens the
existence of the community. Part
of this refugee community was
displaced for a second time in
the mid-1970s to make room for
the Jewish settlement of Ma’ale
Adumim.5 When Ma’ale Adumim
was established in 1976, hundreds
were arbitrarily displaced and
forcibly relocated in an unnaturally
tight cluster to the south-west of
Ma’ale Adumim. Today, this
group is facing displacement for
the third time.
Since the mid-1990s, Jahalin
Bedouin communities have received
35
hundreds of military orders, most
of which are stop-work orders
and demolition orders. The exact
number of military orders issued
and pending is unclear, but it is
estimated to range from 100 to
150. For instance, nearly all Jahalin
Bedouin families near Anata have
had their homes destroyed two,
and in some cases, three times
since 1998, and still have pending
demolition orders.
Between 1997 and 1999, another
120 families were arbitrarily
displaced on so-called security
grounds from the vicinity of
Ma’ale Adumim to the land of
Abu Dis to make room, once
again, for the expansion of the
Ma’ale Adumim settlement. The
first group of Bedouin challenged
the displacement in court, but
were eventually physically removed
by the army in the middle of
the winter in 1997 to shipping
containers onto the Jabal, next
to the garbage dump in Abu
Dis. In 1998, the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights expressed deep concern
at “the situation of the Jahalin
Bedouin families who were forcibly
evicted from their ancestral lands
to make way for the expansion of
the Ma’aleh Adumim and Kedar
settlements” and deplored “the
manner in which the Government
of Israel has housed these families -
in steel container vans in a garbage
dump in Abu Dis in subhuman
living conditions.”6 A second
group who used a different lawyer
in 1998 were able to move to the
Jabal at a slower pace. In 2004,
the last families were displaced
onto the Jabal. While these
Bedouin eventually received some
form of financial compensation
through an agreement with the
Israeli authorities, they remain
36
victims of arbitrary displacement
as no appropriate remedy has been
offered by the Occupying Power.
Israel claims that the shacks in
which the Bedouin currently live
have been illegally built on ‘state
land’. This land, however, belongs
to Palestinian residents of the
surrounding villages. Israel also
claims that the Bedouin lack permits,
which the Israeli authorities grant
to settlers but not to Palestinians
in Areas B and C.7
The Bedouin affirm that Israeli
officials, either from the army or
the Civil Administration,8 as well
as their lawyer, have informed them
that they are required to leave the
area that will be encompassed
by the Wall. In response to an
article published in Ha’aretz in
September 2005, the Israeli Civil
Administration stated that “the
administration will continue to
take action to evacuate the illegal
squatters.”9 Statements made by
Israeli officials also appear to confirm
the intentions of the government
to make the ‘E1-Ma’ale Adumim
bubble’ a ‘Palestinian-free area’
and to assign the route of the Wall
as the future border of the state of
Israel.10
d) Resettlement
opportunities
One feature of Israel’s policy
is to reduce land available to
Palestinians by restricting their
access to land, essential services
and goods, prohibiting construction
and demolishing homes built in
Areas B and C. As land becomes
increasingly scarce, so are viable
resettlement opportunities. This
has led many Bedouin to conclude:
“We have nowhere to go”.
Israeli authorities have envisaged
resettling the Bedouin onto land
on the Jabal in Abu Dis, but the
37
land is on the site of the Jerusalem
garbage dump, which is polluted
and uninhabitable. Moreover, the
land is owned by private residents
of Abu Dis, who are reluctant to
see the Bedouin resettled on their
land again. The land slated for
resettlement is also unsustainable for
the size and needs of the community.
Other resettlement opportunities
have been verbally advanced by
the Civil Administration, but
no decision has yet been made.
However, considering the way the
Bedouin were displaced in the past,
it is unlikely that Israeli authorities
will propose a sustainable and
viable resettlement opportunity that
will meet the right to remedy and
reparation of the Bedouin.
e) Position of the Jahalin
Bedouin and adjacent
communities
Most Bedouin communities
are aware of their impending
displacement and those that have
received military orders have
hired a lawyer to try to prevent
their eviction and the destruction
of their homes. Others have
only been verbally informed by
Israeli authorities that they have to
evacuate the area and have not yet
engaged in legal proceedings. In
general, however, Bedouin want to
remain in their homes and improve
their living conditions, particularly
access to water, health care and
education. Throughout the years,
the Bedouin have proved steadfast
in resisting displacement. While
many are aware that displacement
may be unavoidable, they refuse to
move onto land belonging to other
Palestinians and have expressed
a strong desire to preserve their
traditional nomadic way of life while
improving their living conditions.
Palestinian residents of the nearby
villages of Abu Dis, Al ‘Zaryya,
38
Eastern Sawahrah, Al Za’ym, and
Sheikh Sa’ad, on whose land the
Bedouin live, want the Bedouin to
stay where they are and have asked
the international community to
take action against the construction
of the Wall and prevent the
displacement of the Bedouin.
f) Current legal efforts
Over the years, lawyers representing
the Bedouin have brought over 20
cases to the Israeli High Court.
None, however, have prevented
their displacement. At best, the
High Court froze the eviction and
demolition orders until the Israeli
government clarifies the status of
the Bedouin, a process which is
still pending. It is unclear at this
stage whether the homes of the
Bedouin will be demolished and
they will be displaced or whether
they will be allowed to stay in the
area.
There is also a case brought by the
residents of Abu Dis before the
Israeli High Court concerning the
route of the Wall. The aim is to
alter the route of the Wall so that
the residents of Abu Dis can keep
some of their land, which would
also allow some of the Bedouin to
remain in the small area south-west
of Ma’ale Adumim. The Court
should rule on the case on the 13th
of May 2007.
3. Legal & political
implications of the
displacement of the
Jahalin Bedouin
a) The displacement is not
consistent with international
law
Although collectively or privately
belonging to Palestinians, Israeli
authorities have classified the land
as ‘state land’ and have imposed a
strict building permit regime on the
39
area. The demolition of homes as
a result of lack of building permit
is discriminatory because Israel
does not grant building permits to
Palestinians in Areas B and C while
it does to Jewish settlers living in
the same area. The building permit
regime violates the principle of non-
discrimination enshrined in article
5 of the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, to which
Israel is a party since 1979, article 2
and 7 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, article 2 of the
Convention on the Rights of the
Child, to which Israel is a party since
1991, and articles 13 and 53 of the
Geneva Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War (hereinafter Fourth
Geneva Convention) to which
Israel is a party since 1951.
Moreover, the Wall and its
associated regime, as well as
Jewish settlements, do not
constitute legitimate grounds
under international law to permit
the displacement of the Jahalin
Through land confiscation and
Bedouin. The Jewish settlements
home demolition for the purpose of
and resulting population transfer
the construction of the Wall and
violate article 49 of the Fourth
the expansion of Ma’ale Adumim,
Geneva Convention and constitute
Israel is redefining the boundaries
a grave breach according to article
of ‘Greater Jerusalem’ and de facto
147 of the same Convention while
annexing more Palestinian territory.
the Wall and its associated regime
The annexation of territory by force
have been ruled illegal by the
violates article 2 of the Charter of
International Court of Justice in its
the United Nations and article 47
advisory opinion on 9th July 2004
of the Fourth Geneva Convention,
on the Legal Consequences of
which clearly stipulates that
the Construction of a Wall in the
“protected persons who are in
Occupied Palestinian Territory.
occupied territory shall not be
b) The displacement deprived, in any case or in any
is tantamount to the manner whatsoever, of the benefits
of the present Convention by [...]
annexation of territory by
any annexation by the [Occupying
force and violates the right
Power] of the whole or part of the
to self-determination of the occupied territory.” Also, both the
Palestinian people Wall and the settlements contravene
the right to self-determination of
the Palestinian people to “freely
determine their political status
and freely pursue their economic,
social and cultural development”
and “freely dispose of their natural
wealth and resources” as enshrined
in article 1 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and article 1 of the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights to both of which
Israel is a party since 1991.11 They
also constitute additional Israeli
unilateral measures creating ‘facts
on the ground’ which detrimentally
affect final status issues, notably
the feasibility of a contiguous and
viable Palestinian state.
c) The displacement amounts
to forced population transfer
The displacement of the Jahalin
Bedouin constitutes the crime of
population transfer defined in article
7(2)(d) of the Rome Statute as
41
the “forced displacement of the
persons concerned by expulsion or
other coercive acts from the area
in which they are lawfully present,
without grounds permitted under
international law” which coupled
with article 49 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention and article
8(2b)(viii) of the Rome Statute,
amounts to a war crime, namely
“the transfer, directly or indirectly,
by the Occupying Power of parts
of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies, or
the deportation or transfer of all
or parts of the population of the
occupied territory within or outside
this territory.” The displacement
of the Bedouin thus violates
the prohibition against forced
population transfer as stipulated in
article 11 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and articles
7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of
the International Criminal Court
and constitutes a crime against
humanity and a war crime.
d) The displacement
constitute elements of the
crime of apartheid
The arbitrary displacement of
the Bedouin is prohibited under
Principle 6 of the Guiding Principles
on Internal Displacement as it is
“based on policies of apartheid,
‘ethnic cleansing’ or similar
practices aimed at/or resulting
in altering the ethnic, religious or
racial composition of the affected
population.”
The displacement constitutes
elements of the crime of apartheid
as defined in article 2 of the
International Convention on the
Suppression and Punishment of
the Crime of Apartheid. That is,
the displacement is based on some
of the inhuman acts delineated
in article 2 which are part of an
Israeli policy and practice “of racial
segregation and discrimination…
committed for the purpose of
establishing and maintaining one
42
racial group of persons over any
other racial group of persons and
systematically oppressing them.”
Notably, the measures taken
by Israel to arbitrarily displace
the Palestinian Bedouin, when
combined with the Wall and
settlements and its associated
regime, violate their basic rights
to housing, freedom of movement
and residence, thereby constituting
the inhuman acts under article
2(c) and 2(d) of preventing the
Bedouin “from participation in
the political, social, economic and
cultural life of the country and the
deliberate creation of conditions
preventing the full development of
such a group” and of “divid[ing]
the population along racial lines by
the creation of separate reserves
and ghettos for the members of
a racial group.” In this context, it
is worth noting that the definition
of racial discrimination in article
1 of the International Covenant
on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination includes
discrimination based on national
origin.
Moreover, Article 7(2)(h) of the
Rome Statute states that inhuman
acts such as forcible transfer
“committed in the context of an
institutionalized regime of systematic
oppression and domination by one
racial group over any other racial
group or groups and committed
with the intention of maintaining
that regime” constitute crimes
against humanity on the grounds
of apartheid.
e) The displacement
violates the right to an
adequate standard of living
Home demolitions and arbitrary
displacement violate the right to
a standard of living adequate for
the health and well-being of the
person and of his family, including
sufficient and adequate food,
clothing, housing and medical care
and necessary social services, and
the right to security. In 2002,
the Committee on the Right of
the Child expressed deep concern
at the “large-scale demolition of
houses and infrastructure in the
occupied Palestinian territories,
which constitutes a serious violation
of the right to an adequate standard
of living for children in those
territories.”12 Home demolitions
impede upon the right of the
child to physical, mental, spiritual,
moral and social development.
43
The arbitrary displacement of
the Jahalin Bedouin thus violates
article 11 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, article 27 of
the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, and article 25 of the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
f) The displacement
constitutes unlawful
interference with one’s
privacy, family, home
and violates the right to
be protected against such
interference
Home demolitions and arbitrary
displacement violate the right to
be protected against any unlawful
attack against one’s privacy, family
and home as enshrined in article
17 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights
and article 16 of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child. The
displacement also contravenes the
right to choose one’s residence
as enshrined in article 12 of the
International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.
g) The displacement
affects the social, cultural,
economic and political
system of an indigenous,
semi-nomadic community
Unlike their counterparts in the
Middle East, the Bedouin in the
occupied Palestinian territories have
had to change their way of life as
a result of the difficult conditions
imposed by the occupation and
colonization of their land. The
ongoing demolition of homes
and arbitrary displacement fail to
recognize, respect and promote
the full realization of the social,
economic and cultural rights of
the Bedouin with respect for
their social and cultural identity,
customs and traditions. It also fails
to consider the best interest of the
child as enshrined in article 3 of
the Convention on the Rights of
the Child. The lack of respect
by the occupying power for the
Bedouin, their honor, their family
rights, and their manners and
customs also contravene article 27
of the IV Geneva Convention.
4. Implications for other
Bedouin communities
throughout the occupied
West Bank
Other Palestinian Bedouin
communities are also affected by
the reduction of available land to
Palestinians; a systematic Israeli
policy in the occupied West
Bank, particularly in Area C (59
percent of the West Bank). For
instance, approximately 15,000
Bedouin residing in the Jordan
Valley are harassed by the army,
have received demolition orders
and have seen their freedom of
movement and access to land
44
and essential services restricted.
Bedouin communities south of
Hebron and Qalqilya are also
threatened by similar measures and
are facing displacement because of
the Wall, land confiscation and the
Jewish settlements.
5. Given the imminent
forcible transfer of
the Jahalin Bedouin
sanctioned and carried out
by the Israeli government,
urgent measures are
requested.
We, Al Haq, Applied Research
Institute -Jerusalem (ARIJ), Badil
Resource Center for Palestinian
Residency and Refugee Rights,
Ensan Center for Democracy
and Human Rights, Agricultural
Development Association
(PARC), The Israeli Committee
Against House Demolitions
(ICAHD), and Defence for
Children International/Palestine
Section (DCI) call upon the
Representative of the Secretary-
General on the human rights of
internally displaced persons, the
Special Representative to the
Secretary-General for children and
armed conflict and the Special
Rapporteur on adequate housing
as a component of the right to an
adequate standard of living, and on
the right to non-discrimination in
this context, the Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in
the Palestinian territories occupied
since 1967, and the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of
the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of indigenous people to
request of the government of Israel
the following:
• Stop the construction of and
dismantle the Wall and annul
all related legal acts pertaining
to the administrative regime
established, particularly the permit
and closure system, as stipulated
in the International Court of
Justice advisory opinion and UN
Resolutions ES-10/13 of 21
October 2003 and A/RES/ES-
10/15 of 2 August 2004;
• Explain how the eviction/
displacement of the Jahalin
Bedouin is consistent with Israel’s
obligations as an occupying power
under humanitarian law and under
international human rights law and
prove that eviction/displacement
is unavoidable and in accordance
with international human rights
law, undertaken solely for the
45
purpose of promoting the general
welfare of the protected population,
reasonable and proportional, and
regulated so as to ensure full and
fair rehabilitation of the displaced;
• Allow the Jahalin Bedouin to
remain where they presently reside,
and cease issuing eviction, home
demolition and stop-work orders;
• Cancel all pending eviction, home
demolition and stop-work orders;
• Refrain from taking any
measures that lead to the arbitrary
displacement, i.e. population
transfer, of the Jahalin Bedouin,
including practices of home
demolition and land confiscation;
• Cancel the E1 plan and planned
expansion of the Jewish settlement
of Ma’ale Adumim.
• Improve the conditions of life
and work and levels of health and
education through the participation
and cooperation of the Bedouin
and ensure the availability and
accessibility of employment;
• Recognize the rights of the
Jahalin Bedouin to the land they
traditionally inhabit and use for
their subsistence and traditional
activities;
• Give building permits to
Palestinians, including the Jahalin
Bedouin, residing in Areas B and
C of the occupied West Bank;
and,
• Allow internally displaced
persons in the occupied Palestinian
territories, including the Jahalin
Bedouin, to return to their homes
and places of habitual residence
in accordance with international
law, the UN Guiding Principles
on Internal Displacement and the
UN Principles on Housing and
Property Restitution for Refugees
and Displaced Persons.
• Allow Palestinian refugees,
including the Jahalin Bedouin, to
return to their homes of origin
in Israel, and respect their right
46
to a remedy and reparation,
including restitution, compensation,
rehabilitation, satisfaction and
guarantee of non-repetition in
accordance with UN Resolution
194, the UN Basic Principles and
Guidelines on the Right to Remedy
and Reparation for Victims of Gross
Violations of International Human
Rights Law and Serious Violations
of International Humanitarian
Law, and the UN Principles on
Housing and Property Restitution
for Refugees and Displaced
Persons.
To this end, we respectfully invite
the Special Representatives on
internally displaced persons and
children in armed conflict and the
Special Rapporteurs on housing,
the occupied Palestinian territories
and indigenous people to undertake
the following:
• Send urgent communications to
the highest levels of the Israeli
government addressing the above;
• Include recommendations for
appropriate intervention by UN
bodies on the case of the Jahalin
Bedouin in the occupied Palestinian
territories based on the reporting
requirements of each individual
mandate;
• Visit the occupied Palestinian
territories to assess the situation
of internal displacement, including
the situation of Jahalin Bedouin
and other Palestinian communities
facing arbitrary displacement; and,
• Monitor and report on the
Jahalin Bedouin and other
Palestinian communities displaced
or vulnerable to displacement in
the occupied Palestinian territories
under the reporting mechanism
established by UN Security
Council Resolution 1612.
47
Footnotes:
1 “The E1 Plan calls for the largest single
settlement construction project in recent history.
Bulldozers began to clear Palestinian land
north of the large Israeli settlement of Ma’ale
Adumim in December 2004 but it was only
on February 28 that the Israeli government
announced its intention of building at least
3,500 new housing units on the site. The
E1 Plan intends to appropriate approximately
12,500 dunums (12.5 km2) of Palestinian
lands belonging to the Palestinian villages
of Al-Tur, ‘Anata, Al Eizaryieh, Abu Dis,
Al Essawyieh and Hizma.” Dr. Jad Isaac &
Fida Abdel Latif, Jerusalem: the strangulation
of the Arab Palestinian city, (Bethlehem:
Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ),
July 9, 2005). Available at: http://www.arij.
org/pub/Colonization in Jerusalem/index-
1.htm.
2 Israel illegally annexed occupied East
Jerusalem (70 km²) to west Jerusalem in a
series of administrative orders and laws passed
between 1967 and 1980. Since then, Israel
has continued to de facto annex occupied West
Bank land to what it has termed ‘Greater
Jerusalem.’ The UN General Assembly
and Security Council have declared that
“administrative measures and actions taken by
Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered
or purport to alter the character and status of
the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular
the recent ‘basic law’ on Jerusalem, are null
and void and must be rescinded forthwith.”
UNSC Resolution 478, 20 August 1980.
See also Security Council Resolutions 267
(1969); 298 (1971); 446 (1979); 465
(1980); 605 (1987).
3 Information collected for this report is based on
discussions with Jahalin Bedouin communities.
4 In order to receive a permit, it is required
to obtain a report from the hospital (usually
sent by fax) stating that they, or their relative,
need medical treatment. Without this report, it
is practically impossible to obtain a permit.
5 “Ma’ale Adumim was originally founded
by a tiny group of settlers in 1976, but did
not begin to expand significantly until 1982.
It was at this time that the Israeli government
declared the area to be ‘State Land’, in spite of
the legal ownership of the Palestinian residents
of Abu-Dis. Despite being 4.5 kilometres
from Jerusalem, Ma’ale Adumim has been
promoted as the new eastern limit of the city.
Ma’ale Adumim is also slated to be the limit
of the newly- conceived ‘Greater Jerusalem’,
which is an Israeli plan to annex an enormous
area of the West Bank and to [consolidate]
its 1967 annexation of Arab East Jerusalem.”
Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ),
The Expansion of Ma’ale Adumim Colony
and the Expulsion of Jahalin (Bethlehem, 24
February 1997). Available at: http://www.
arij.org/paleye/maale/index.htm.
6 UN Concluding observations of the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights : Israel, E/C.12/1/Add.27,
4 December 1998, para. 12.
7 The Oslo Accords divided the West Bank
in three zones: Areas A, B and C. Areas A
are under Palestinian civil and internal security
control; Areas B are under Palestinian civil
control and Israeli security control; and, Area
C is under exclusive Israeli control.
8 The Civil Administration is the arm of the
Israel Defense Ministry responsible for non-
security matters in the occupied Palestinian
territories.
9 “Both the Bedouin and military sources say
that the main purpose of the measure is to
48
clear out all of the Bedouin tents from the
planned enclave of Ma’aleh Adumim.” Arnon
Regular, “Nowhere to go - Bedouin expelled
by Ma’ale Adumim Wall,” Ha’aretz, 23
September 2005.
10 The Minister of Justice and Foreign Minister,
Tzipi Livni affirmed that “the wall is the future
border of the state of Israel” and that “the High
Court of Justice, in its ruling over the fence,
is drawing the country’s border.” Yuval Yoaz,
“Justice Minister: West Bank fence is Israel’s
future border,” Ha’aretz, 1 December 2005.
11 International Court of Justice (ICJ), The
Legal Consequences of the Construction of a
Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
Advisory Opinion, 9 July 2004, para. 133.
12 UN, Concluding observations of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child : Israel.
CRC/C/15/Add.195,
9 October 2002, para. 50.
Endnote:
The photographs show Jahalin
Bedouin communities and lifestyle
in the Ma’ale Adumim/Greater
Jerusalem region, including those
Bedouin already displaced and
moved to the Jabal, or those
currently facing eviction because of
the Ma’ale Adumim Wall and E1
development. Photos were taken by
ActiveStills Co-operative during
research interviews by Badil in
August 2006, during demolition in
February 2007 of Bedouin homes
and, more recently, to record the
Wall infrastructure.