"Thousands of police are in the Negev desert village of el-Araqib right now (5:30 a.m. in Israel), beginning a mass evacuation, demolition, and erasure of this historical Bedouin village," writes Yeela Raanan of the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages (RCUV).
"If you have access to the media, please send them to this village as soon as possible! The village of el-Araqib is between Rahat and Beer Sheva, and in a location that the Goldberg commission deemed outside of the areas allowed for the Negev Arabs… an area designated only for Jews…
"The JNF (Jewish National Fund) is planting a forest on this village lands – to make sure that the Bedouin cannot live on their village lands or use them for agriculture. The villagers turned to the Israeli courts, as the JNF were planting this forest at the behest of the Israeli government, but against Israeli law…
"The people of el-Araqib won the court battle… but this morning it seems that the Government of Israel has started a war — of the Government against its own citizens."
