Negev Bedouin Resettlement Plan Draws Protest
by News Editor
A Bedouin encampment near the Ramat Hovav industrial zone in the Negev. The proposed Prawer Law, which would retroactively legalize tens of thousands of Bedouin structures, has angered anti-settlements NGOs because it stipulates that several thousand Bedouin must relocate from positions in close proximity to Ramat Hovav, a site that has been deemed unsuitable for residential zoning due to the pollutants emitted from the factories. Photo: Shay Levy/Flash90.
Times of Israel – Israeli officials and opponents of a controversial Bedouin resettlement plan each indicated that they would not be backing down from their stances Sunday, a day after protests against the plan turned violent.
President Shimon Peres, speaking from Mexico where he is on a state visit, threw his weight behind the Prawer Plan, which would move much of Negev’s Bedouin population from unrecognized villages to cities.
