KHIRBET KARKUR, Israel (AP) — An Israeli hostage rescued from Gaza returned to a hero’s welcome tinged with a bitter reality: Much of the small village he calls home – Khirbet Karkur — is targeted for demolition.
Since November, about 70% of Khirbet Karkur residents have been told the government plans to raze their homes because they were built without permits in a “protected forest” not zoned for housing, according to a lawyer representing them.
A spokesperson for the Israel Land Authority said that “in light of the situation” it would not serve a demolition notice to the Alkadi family.
Khirbet Karkur is nestled in the shadow of a large dump, and the smell of rotting garbage drifts over the short, squat corrugated metal homes.
Israel’s Supreme Court has previously deemed many of the unrecognized Bedouin villages illegal, and the government has said they are trying to bring order to a lawless area and give a better quality of life to the impoverished minority.
Bedouin leaders have rejected many proposals, saying they would destroy their lifestyle or send them to less desirable areas.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other members of his party have consistently championed the demolition of illegal Bedouin construction in the Negev desert and Israeli-occupied West Bank.
He said residents of Khirbet Karkur, who were placed there in the 1950s by the government, would be open to moving to another rural area, but not a city.
“ Abu Tailkha said that while the country and its leaders were embracing Alkadi’s return, he isn’t optimistic real change will occur in their village.
“I think in a bit they will forget about Farhan, and they will send another round of demolition orders,” he said.
KHIRBET KARKUR, Israel (AP) — An Israeli hostage recently freed from Gaza was greeted with heroism upon his return, but there was a bitter irony: a large portion of the small village he calls home, Khirbet Karkur, is slated for demolition.
Qaid Farhad Alkadi, 52, is one of the approximately 300,000 Bedouin Arabs in Israel. They are a poor, traditionally nomadic minority with a tense relationship with the government and a high rate of discrimination. About one-third of Bedouins, including Alkadi, live in villages that the government wants to demolish even though they are Israeli citizens and some of them are army personnel.
Based on the information provided by their attorney, since November approximately 70% of the residents of Khirbet Karkur have been informed that their homes will be demolished by the government because they were constructed without permission in an area designated as a “protected forest” rather than for residential use. Alkadi’s family has not received any notification, but the otherwise happy 24 hours have been clouded by the impending mass relocation of this close-knit community.
The head of the local council in Khirbet Karkur and a public health lecturer at Ben Gurion University in nearby Beersheba, Muhammad Abu Tailakh, said, “It’s so exciting, we didn’t know if he’ll come back alive or not.”. However, because of everything going on, the good news is also a little bit complicated. “.
Numerous well-wishers and a throng of media greeted Alkadi on Wednesday. A day after his dramatic rescue, which he related in grateful phone calls to Israel’s president and prime minister, he was discharged from the hospital and headed back home.
In anticipation of his arrival, neighbors and family set up a large tent in his honor and started serving tea and coffee early in the morning. After 326 days of captivity, part of which was spent in an underground tunnel, the clean-shaven but gaunt Alkadi appeared overwhelmed by the attention and spoke with reporters, pleading with Israeli leaders to release all of the hostages.
“It doesn’t matter if they are Arab or Jewish; everyone has family waiting for them,” Alkadi, an 11-year-old father who was abducted by Hamas on October 4, said. 7 when manning a security post at a packing facility close to the Gaza border.
In addition, he said, “they want to experience the joy.”. “I pray, I hope, that this will end. “.
On October 8, eight Bedouins were kidnapped, including Alkadi. 7, while three are thought to still be in captivity; two teenagers were freed, one was killed by mistake by the Israeli army, and one who was pronounced dead is still in Gaza.
In October. 7. When the army and police were in disarray, numerous Bedouins raced to aid attendees of an Israeli music festival, saving hundreds of lives.
According to an Israel Land Authority representative, “in light of the situation,” the Alkadi family would not receive a demolition notice. However, it declined to address the predicament of his neighbors or the legal actions taken by them to preserve their houses.
The majority of neighbors and family members made an effort on Wednesday to concentrate on the positive developments rather than potentially protracted legal disputes.
“This issue must be fixed in order for people to remain here. obtain a suitable resolution that meets the Bedouins’ requirements,” stated Alkadi’s 59-year-old friend Nasser Amran. “Electricity is not available. Even though they transport a pipe from another community to this one for the water, living in a village without electricity and water is still challenging. “.
Numerous unrecognized villages, including Khirbet Karkur, have dusty, potholed roads, and they are not connected to the state’s infrastructure for electricity, sewage, or water. Tucked under a massive landfill, Khirbet Karkur’s short, squat corrugated metal houses are covered in an odor of decaying trash. The tiny community of homes is surrounded by mounds of garbage and construction debris.
Many of the unrecognized Bedouin villages have previously been declared illegal by Israel’s Supreme Court, and the government claims it is attempting to bring order to an otherwise lawless area and improve the standard of living for the impoverished minority.
Israel has been attempting for decades to persuade the dispersed, off-grid Bedouin villagers that it is best for them to relocate into Bedouin townships that have been designated by the government, where they will have access to utilities like electricity and water, as well as schools. Several proposals have been turned down by Bedouin leaders, who claim they would upend their way of life or force them to relocate to less desirable locations.
The Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, which keeps tabs on demolitions in the Bedouin community, reports that in the first half of 2024, 1,325 Bedouin homes were demolished, a 51 percent increase over the same period in 2022.
The rise of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition and the rise in demolitions have occurred at the same time. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security, and other party members have continuously pushed for the destruction of illegal Bedouin construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Negev desert.
Last year, Ben-Gvir went to see a demolition firsthand and gave the destruction “kudos” and referred to it as “sacred work.”. “.
According to Abu Tailkha, he and his neighbors wish to keep living in a rural area, and their villages ought to be recognized by the government. He said that although they wouldn’t mind moving to a city, the people who lived in Khirbet Karkur—a place the government had placed them in the 1950s—would be amenable to moving to another rural area.
According to Netta Amar Shiff, a lawyer representing families who received demolition notices, the government wants to move them north to Rahat, an urban Bedouin settlement of about 70,000 people. She referred to the government’s declaration that it will not assist Alkadi’s family in filing lawsuits as “disgusting cynicism.”.
She stated, “If there’s a good reason one person doesn’t get the notice, there’s a good reason for everyone.”.
Right-wing research group Regavim says the government’s plan to relocate Bedouins is a great deal, and it is in their best interest to relocate so they can access services to which all Israeli citizens are entitled. Regavim also supports the government’s plan to relocate Bedouins.
Head of Regavim’s international division Naomi Kahn stated, “Israel can’t provide services to people who just build wherever they want.”.
Since the start of the war, at least 11 Bedouin have been killed by rockets fired into Israel; the unrecognized villages lack proper bomb shelters and a warning system in case of approaching rockets.
Abu Tailkha, the head of the local council of Khirbet Karkur, stated, “I have to fight this demolition order, and the entire country is in a war.”. .”.
Even though the nation and its leaders welcomed Alkadi’s return, Abu Tailkha expressed doubt that their village would see significant change.
“I anticipate that they will move on and issue more demolition orders shortly, disregarding Farhan,” he remarked.
