Unrecognized Villages
Those Bedouin who resisted sedentarization and urban life remained in their old scattered villages. There are some 39-45 villages which are not recognized by the Israeli government and are thus ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash-pickup.
According to the Israel Land Authority (as of 2007), 40% of the Bedouin lived in unrecognized villages, although the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages (RCUV) refer to Bedouin in unrecognized villages as half the Negev Bedouin population. The RCUV figures include the five villages which remain unrecognized despite incorporation into the Abu Basma Regional Council.
Many insist on remaining in unrecognized villages in the hope of retaining their traditions and customs; these are rural villages, some of which pre-date Israel. However in 1984, the courts ruled that the Negev Bedouin had no land ownership claims, effectively illegalizing their existing settlements. The Israeli government defines these rural Bedouin villages as "dispersals" while the international community refers to them as "unrecognized villages". Few of the Bedouin in unrecognized villages have seen the urban townships as a desirable form of settlement. Extreme unemployment has afflicted unrecognized villages as well, breeding extreme crime levels. Since sources of income such as grazing has been severely restricted, and the Bedouin rarely receive permits to engage in self-subsistence agriculture, they are doing it at their own risk.
Many of the Bedouin villages were created in the 1950s when the Israeli army resettled Bedouin from the Sinai desert. Construction in them was carried out sporadically, without any centralized planning, so, for example, no place was left for the community objects, such as schools, clinics or community centers. These villages do not appear on official Israeli maps, and lack basic services like water, electricity and schools. Building permanent structures and farming is prohibited although many do, risking fines and home demolition.
Read more about this topic: Negev Bedouin
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