Israel razes Bedouin village in Negev for 144th time

By Abdul Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli bulldozers on Thursday demolished the Arab Bedouin village Al-Araqib, located in the southern Negev region, for the 144th time, according to a local Palestinian source.

Aziz al-Touri, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Al-Araqib (a local NGO devoted to safeguarding the village from Israel depredations), said Israeli forces had stormed the village Thursday morning before razing it to the ground for the 144th time.

“They also confiscated villagers’ property and desecrated a local Muslim cemetery,” he told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Touri, it is the second time for the village to be demolished during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began this year on May 6.

“We condemn this unjust and deliberate policy by the Israeli authorities,” he said, going on to assert that the people of Al-Araqib “will continue to steadfastly resist this aggression”.

Since 2010, the Israeli authorities have demolished makeshift homes in the village -- which are always quickly rebuilt by local residents -- scores of times.

Residents of Al-Araqib are Arab citizens of Israel who were displaced in 1951 when the nascent state of Israel claimed the area as “state land”.