Article74 Magazine

A Report Compiled by the Lobby for Palestinian Women’s Rights in Jerusalem  
on the Occasion of  
the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People  
29 November 1997  

The approximately 65 families of the Sara’ia Bedouin are part of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe. The tribe originates fro the Tel as-Sab’a area, located on territory declared Israeli state territory in 1948. In 1950, the tribe was evicted across the border with Jordan to the West Bank, then under Jordanian rule. The evicted members of the tribe were issued refugee status and registered with UNRWA. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Jahalin tribe settled in the arid Judean desert east of Jerusalem and west of the Dead Sea.  
The Sara’ia Bedouin families have lived for years in Vad Abu Hindi, a desert valley located in the vicinity of the two Israeli settlements of Ma’aleh Adumim and Qedar. Due to their remoteness, they were spared by the Israeli authorities during the first infamous eviction campaign which had targeted Jahalin as-Salamat Bedouin living further up the mountains, at the entrance to the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement. In the meantime, irrespective to local and international protest and the continued legal efforts, the latter have been evicted and concentrated in shacks and containers next to Jerusalem’s municipal garbage dump. Now, the Sara’ia Bedouin are the new target of the Israeli policy aimed at cleansing the West Bank from its Bedouin population and at pushing them into "reservations" in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority:  

On 28 September 1997, armed Israeli forces raided the Bedouin encampment and destroyed the new elementary school constructed by the Palestinian Authority for the school year of 1997-1998. The school had been a significant improvement for the 39 school children enrolled in grade 1-6; they were saved the 10 km desert hike to their previous school in the Palestinian village of as-Sawahre. The Israeli ride turned their new school into rubble. Also, the permanent wooden homes of the families and the encampment’s water supply system were destroyed. Two school tents provided by UNRWA and several tiny tents provided by the IDRC to replace the destroyed family homes do not repair the damage done, especially not now, during the winter season.  
The Sara’ia Bedouin are pessimistic. Their ability to resist the Israeli pressure is undermined by remoteness and neglect. They have no access to even basic medical services, and their traditional means of subsistence are being destroyed by new Israeli orders which restrict the grazing grounds of their animals. No longer able to feed their livestock, they have been forced to purchase animal feed at the expensive price of US $ 200/ton. They worry that their days at the site are running out. An agreement with the Israeli authorities permitting their temporary presence in Vad Abu Hindi cannot calm the fear that the Sara’ia Bedouin will soon join the Salamat Bedouin on the stinking garbage dump.  

Stop the Eviction of Palestine’s Bedouin Population! Support the Sara’ia Jahalin!