Israeli Bedouin march against resettlement plan

Thousands of Bedouin marched in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Thursday to protest a government plan to settle tens of thousands of their desert-dwelling people in permanent townships, media reported. Public radio said the protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners of the Israeli Islamic movement, chanting "With our blood and our spirit we will redeem the Negev," referring to the desert where most Israeli Bedouin live. The radio did not give a number of participants, saying only that "thousands" filled the city centre, blocking traffic. Police said about 700 were at the main demonstration with another 2,000 people on the surrounding streets around. The radio said 85,000 Bedouin children stayed away from school on Thursday as part of a community-wide general strike, with a large number of women and children at the rally. The cabinet approved the resettlement plan in January and it is now before parliament. The government has said it would "as much as possible" grant legal status to Negev villages that are currently unrecognised by the authorities -- if they met a minimum population criteria. But those criteria have never been stated. A cabinet statement at the time said "most" residents -- who do not currently receive government or municipal services -- would be able to continue living in their homes after the villages are granted legal status. The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which represents Arab communities in Israel, has described the initiative as a "disaster" that would have "dangerous" consequences. There are around 160,000 Bedouin in Israel, most of whom live in and around the Negev in the country's arid south. More than half of them live in unrecognised villages without utilities and many of the rest also live in extreme poverty.