NGO: Israel plan for Jewish Negev town racist

An Israeli human rights organisation on Monday accused the government of promoting "racist" policies in its decision to establish a Jewish town in the place of a Bedouin village. The cabinet on Sunday approved the establishment of "two new communities in the Negev" in southern Israel, naming them as Kesif and Hiran. But according to Suhad Bishara, director of the land and planning unit at Israeli Arab rights group Adalah, "in order to build Hiran it will accelerate the demolition of the unrecognised Umm el-Hieran village in the Negev and evict its residents." Bishara said this reflected a "racist policy," noting "it is a residential area but the state is telling the Bedouins that they are unfit for this land and will bring in Jewish residents instead,’’ reported AFP. She said the government had previously announced its intention to evict the Bedouin and build a town at the site in 2002, a decision being challenged in court with a hearing scheduled for November 20. Bishara charged that establishing new Jewish towns in the Negev while evicting the incumbent Bedouin residents showed that the government was motivated primarily by "racist policies" against Arab Bedouin citizens. She called on the authorities to engage in dialogue.