Re: Inflammatory article in Haaretz - and two responses

[Yeela Raanan]

Alon Tal writes in Haaretz (http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.544876) so many un-truths and half-truths, it is hard to know where to start. Following are two short responses - by Oren Yiftachel and by Rabbi Arik Asherman. 

I will only comment on the beginning - his accusation that the Rabbis for Human Rights are not involved in the struggle of the Bedouin women for more protection against domestic violence. One of the major causes for the terrible rise in domestic violence is a breakdown in the Bedouin economic basis and therefor also social strength. With it came also a destruction of the women's contribution to the family economy. The desperate wish of the El-Araqib people for the right to live as a farming community as they did before 1948, on the lands that Israel confiscated by force in the early 1950s, and that Israel has shown it has no need for beyond desert-forestation (a real oximorn). Life in the village of El-Araqib, and in all 45 Bedouin villages that should be recognized,  will allow once more a semblance of diginity for the men as breadwinners, for the women as important contirbutors to the family economy. And the village as a powerful socializer in the values of human dignity - for men - and for their wives.

Israel has miserably failed her Bedouin citizens by forcing urbanization, and thus taking away their traditional means of living - agriculture - and then forcing them into miserable poverty by never creating a worthy school system nor any other tools and resources for employment. So that today most of the Bedouin men are unemployed, 90% of the Bedouin women are unemployed, and the children and youth can look forward to a similar future. The Prawer Plan intends to urbanize the remaining 50% of Bedouin who are still struggling for the recognition of their villages and lands, still hoping to skip the fate of the people in Rahat and the other Bedouin towns. 

By fighting for the right to live in and utilize the historical villages, and El-Araqib as a powerful symbol - the Rabbis are fighting for the right of all Bedouin - men and women - to live a life of dignity. 

Dr. Yeela Raanan

and here are Yiftachel's and Asherman's responses. 

From: אורן יפתחאל
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2013 10:30
To: Rabbi Arik Ascherman; אלון טל
Subject: RE: Very Disapointed

 

TO ALL CONCERN

 

RESPONSE TO ALON TAL'S OP-ED ON ARAQIB

 

Alon Tal's op-ed on the Araqib issue ('A Campaign that Discredits…', Haaretz, 2-9-2013) is indeed disappointing. This is especially because Tal was one of the founders of Adam Teva Vadin and has contributed much to Israeli civil society. Although he makes some good points, the overall argument is objectionable, and it appears his JNF affiliation overrode basic tenets of justice and human rights.

 

There is plenty to say about the inbuilt biases in his article, and about his patronizing critique of Rabbis for Human Rights. But in this short response, let me mention three other points that highlight the problematic nature of his article.

 

The first is moral – no matter how one paints it, prof. Tal adds his support for the eviction and dispossession of the Araqib people. To add salt to wound he even denies the original crime, by writing that the Bedouins seek to annul "an order from the 1950s that brought these open spaces into the public domain". I am sure George Orwell would be proud of such wording that covers up criminal transfer and confiscation of land, that saw whole communities of Israeli citizens being forcefully removed from their land and villages.

 

You may expect the general public – brainwashed for years by the state's rewriting of history – to make such a statement. But coming from the pen of a renowned civil activist and university professor, is very disappointing. This denial cannot be attributed to lack of knowledge, since many people have explained to him the situation. The statement is disingenuous and discredits his whole account. Needless to say, and Tal knows it well, Araqib is a symbol for citizens fighting against their forced removal and dispossession, and Tal seems to support state denial and all that it entails.

 

The second problem is historical-legal. Tal makes some unsubstantiated claims about Araqib history, claiming that the Bedouins' evidence is "not compelling" and he saw aerial photographs that "tell a different story". Yet, the thorough research I have conducted on this issue (with Kedar and Amara) supports most (though not all) of the Bedouins historical claims. It also shows how distorted the decisions of the Israeli legal system have been. Tal simply expresses "faith" in this system, without searching the issue properly, as expected from a professor. I am attaching an article that exposes the whole system of 'legalized dispossession'. I suggest Tal should read it before making more erroneous claims about the legal situation.

 

The third problem in Tal's argument is his strange claim that Araqib would 'suffocate' the access of Rahat's residents to open space. This is almost absurd. Let us remember that Rahat is surrounded by tens of thousands of dunams of open space, held mainly by nearby kibbutzim of Shoval, Mishmar Hanegev, Dvir etc. But the problem, a-la Tal, will be a few dunams allocated to a small village in Araqib? Again, this appears like using a distorted 'green' argument to justify the problematic action of the JNF in the Araqib area.

 

As the idiom goes, this article shouldn't have been written, and once written shouldn't have been published. It's a pity to see a respected person such as prof. Alon Tal publishing such a problematic article – morally, factually and professionally. I join those calling for him to rethink his position, and retract  all distorted statements. and I would be happy to lend my considerable knowledge on the subject for this purpose.

 

Prof. Oren Yiftachel

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------

oren yiftachel אורן יפתחאל اورن يفتحئل

head, dept. of multidisciplinary studies

professor of geography, ben-gurion university, beersheba, israel

lynn and lloyd hurst family chair in local government

homepage: http://www.geog.bgu.ac.il/members/yiftachel/yiftachel.html

 

From: Rabbi Arik Ascherman [mailto:ravarik....@rhr.israel.net]
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 20:22
To: אלון טל
Subject: Very Disapointed

 

Dear Alon,

 

Needless to say I am quite disappointed, as people have been sending me copies of your article today in HaAretz.  I had thought from our last communications that, while you still felt that the good of the many outweighed the good of the few, that you had dropped these charges of violence and were convinced that the El-Araqib land claims were legitimate.  While there have no doubt been violent incidents involving Bedouin, and they should be condemned, I have never been able to get from you or anybody else any documented incidents (or even a specific undocumented incident) in which the residents of El-Araqib used violence. )  If you now have specifics, I would be very interested in seeing them.  Otherwise, I would seriously recommend publishing a retraction.

 

Surely you have seen the map of the “Pale of Settlement” which is part of the Prawer/Begin bill.  You therefore know that, if this bill is passed, by law the lands of El-Araqib will not be for the use of Rahat.  Surely you also know that it is Givaot Bar that stands between Rahat and the lands of El-Araqib.  You may or may not know that the residents of El-Araqib do not claim that Givaot Bar is on their land.  It is on land that once belonged to Bedouin who left/were forced to leave the State.

 

Which “consistent opinions” by judges are you referring to?  I know that there were two district court decisions, one agreeing to hear the case of petitioners and the other not.  The judge agreeing to hear the case criticized the fact that the residents were building without permits, but did not talk about violence.  The Bagatz has ordered the District Court to hear the case.  None of these courts has yet ruled on the actual question of land ownership. Things are being held up because the State is asking the Bagatz to rehear the case regarding whether the case should be heard with a larger number of judges.

 

You have no idea what we have or haven’t done regarding the status of women among the Bedouin.  The very least you could have done was to have checked before making such an ad homonym attack.

 

It is also ironic that you see RHR focusing most of its energies on discrediting the JNF.  Most of our energies are directed against those who are pushing the Prawer/Begin plan (or oppose the plan because they think it is too soft on the Bedouin.)  We make a point of saying that the JNF is not setting policy, although in the case of foresting over Bedouin communities we think it is a cop out to say that the JNF is merely the forestry service for the State of Israel.  We also make a point of pointing out that JNF also does important and holy work, and that we do not see things as one sided as some others maintain.  

 

I am not going to argue with you about some of your other points I disagree on that are matter of opinion.

 

Before we decide whether and how to respond, I do want to know whether you are willing to publish a retraction regarding the points where you are factually wrong (Or, as in the case of the accusation of violence, produce some evidence.).  If we can clear up the matters of fact, I would be very open to some sort of new media rav siakh on matters of opinion and values.

 

Shana Tova,

Arik

 

 

 

 

הרב אריק אשרמן
נשיא ורב בכיר
שומרי משפט-רבנים למען זכויות האדם
טל' עבודה: 02-6482757
נייד: 050-5607034
פקס: 02-6783611
סקייף : ravarik, ravarik4

Rabbi Arik Ascherman
President and Senior Rabbi
Rabbis For Human Rights
Phone: 972 2 6482757, 972 2 6480893
Cellphone: 972 2 50 5607034
Fax: 972 2 6783611
Skype: ravarik, ravarik4