Discussion with BUSTAN Director Ra'ed Al-Mickawi
On April 28th, Meretz USA hosted BUSTAN Director Raed Al-Mickawi for a discussion on the difficulties faced by Bedouin living in the Negev and on the work of BUSTAN.
BUSTAN is an Israeli nonprofit and social justice organization which works to develop sustainable and equitable resource allocation for all citizens of the Negev. It works in particular to with marginalized Bedouin communities to minimize the impacts of urbanization, overpopulation, and over-consumption, and addresses these problems by building sustainable and environmentally friendly community infrastructure.
Raed began his talk with a history of the Bedouin in the Negev, then addressed some of the issues that the communities are now facing, and finally elaborated on some of the ways that BUSTAN is working to resolve these issues.
Prior to the 1950s, Raed explained, the Bedouin lived a nomadic lifestyle, moving throughout the Negev. In the 50s, however, Israel confiscated these lands and moved 60% of the community into the small triangle of land between the cities of Arad, Yerucham, and Beersheva, and area that makes up 2% of the land in the Negev. The reason for this move was that the Israeli government needed the land for military training.
Since that time, the Israeli government has established nine recognized townships and the Bedouin have settled into 45 additional unrecognized villages - although 9 of these are in the process of being recognized. None of these living situations is without immense hardship.
Illustrating with slides, Raed explained that the unrecognized villages receive no services from the state of Israel. They have no electricity, no running water, no sewage, and no trash is collected. The residents of these villages get rid of their trash by burning, but this causes disease.
In addition, the government says that these villages are illegal, that they've been built on state land and that the residents should resettle in the recognized communities. The houses there are, thus, continually subject to the threat of bulldozing.
However, circumstances are not really better in the townships. Many townships are also subject to environmental health hazards and resource shortages. Industrial zones built next to villages cause high rates of cancer and asthma. Raed's village, Tel Sheva, the first township to be established by the Israeli government in 1967, experiences both water and electrical shortages - despite being located next to a power plant.
There is also little opportunity for the future for those living in the townships, where unemployment rates hover at 90% and crime and drugs thrive. Calling the towns "ghetto-like", Raed attributed these problems largely to a lack of urban planning on the part of the Israeli government. The townships have no town centers or agricultural land, which could provide employment opportunities and goods to the communities.
In fact, Raed explained, opportunities for employment and success are so few in the townships, that there is a sense within the Bedouin community that it is better to live in the unrecognized villages. Moving to the townships almost inevitably means becoming unemployed and raising children in a crime-ridden environment.
BUSTAN's work involves resolving these issues for the Bedouin community in the Negev in an environmentally sustainable way. For instance, some of organization's work in the region focuses primarily on health problems. In 2003, the organization established a clinic in the unrecognized village of Wadi el Na'am. The clinic powers itself through "off the grid" technology. Similarly, BUSTAN provides solar-powered electrical equipment to families with sick children through it's "Children's Power Project." Raed pointed out that, because the Negev has a very sunny climate, solar power makes more sense than power plants, BUSTAN's "New Energies" project focuses on creating such models of sustainable energy.
BUSTAN's other initiatives are similarly aimed at resource development or at raising awareness. It's "Learning Sites" project focuses on things like teaching Bedouin women to practice organic farming or giving young Bedouin the tools to build in a sustainable manner. It's "Negev Unplugged Grassroots Advocacy" project includes tours, lectures, and media events to raise awareness about inequalities in the region, and it's "Health Justice" project works to highlight contaminated areas of the Negev.
Concluding, Raed explained some of the beliefs underlying Bustan's work. He stressed the idea that the Israeli-Arab conflict, like so many other conflicts across the globe, is based on a fight for resources. By stressing the importance of sustainable development, BUSTAN hopes to eliminate one reason that people fight. He also explained that BUSTAN's work allows both Jewish and Arab volunteers to come together and to find solutions to a nonpolitical matter. These volunteers begin working on a project like building a health clinic, and through these interactions they are able to begin discussions and to find common ground on more difficult issues.