Al-Arakib Bedouins Escalate Protest - Jerusalem

Bedouins of the unrecognized village of Al-Arakib in the Negev Desert escalate their protest ascending to Jerusalem to protest in front of the Keren Kayemet LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund offices. The KKL-JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organization, founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine and later the British Mandate for Palestine for Jewish settlement.

The Bedouins demonstrate against the intention of KKL-JNF to forcefully evict them from, what they call their own land, in favor of forestation. Some 85,000 Bedouins reside in 36 unrecognized villages in the Negev Desert. Residents of Al-Arakib claim their village has already been demolished 35 times. The KKL-JNF has recently deployed bulldozers on site and seem ready for the next phase although Al-Arakib residents claim their plea is still being debated in court.