Bedouin Village Al Arakib Demolished Today for the 64th Time in Southern Israel
http://revolution-news.com/southern-israel-bedouin-village-al-arakib-demolished-today-64th-time/
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The Bedouin village of Al Arakib in the Naqeb/Negev region of southern Israel was demolished again for the 64th time. Heavy police forces, including masked special police squads, cordoned off the area, making it impossible for supporters to reach the villagers.
The villagers and supporters were concentrated in one area of the cemetery compound and confined there while the demolitions took place. Residents appealed to the court this morning and managed to get a temporary restraining order, but the police forces, aware the order was processing hurried to complete the demolition before the order could be obtained. Even when the order was obtained, the police refused to allow the residents to show it to them. Eventually, the residents ran after the bulldozers with a picture of the fresh order someone sent from court.
The village of Al Arakib dates back to before the founding of the state of Israel. The village residents were expelled in the 1950′s by the Israeli military, and in the 1990′s the village residents and their descendants returned to their lands to reestablish the village and reclaim their lands. After years of court battles and massive harassment by the police, the Jewish National Fund and the Israel Lands Administration, the village was completely destroyed 2010, with only the village cemetery compound surviving the destruction. Since then, the residents had been living in this compound, building their huts and a mosque there as well, while trying again and again to rebuild their village after 64 back to back demolitions since 2010. Today, the Israeli authorities demolished the structures inside the cemetery compound as well.