Protesters rally in Jaffa against Israeli plan to move Negev Bedouin

About 200 people joined a demonstration Saturday in Jaffa, Israel, against a plan to move Bedouins out of settlements in the Negev in southern Israel. Muhammad Mahmid, one of the organizers of the protest, called the plan "ethnic cleansing that the Israeli government is performing in the Negev," Ynetnews reported. The plan, known as the Prawer Plan, was approved by a three-vote margin in June in the Israeli parliament. "The aim is to evacuate all the Bedouin settlements and Negev residents in the attempt to ghettoize them and ensure that the Negev is exclusively Jewish," Mahmid said. The plan would move between 40,000 and 70,000 Bedouin living in communities in the Negev not recognized by Israel, to authorized Bedouin settlements. Supporters say the move would provide better lives for those in the unrecognized settlements, who lack access even to basic services like running water and electricity. Thousands of people in Israel and elsewhere joined a "day of rage" against the plan Nov. 30.