Faysal, 14-year-old boy, sitting at night around the fire, in the unrecognised village of Wadi el Na'am (pop. 4000), close to Beer Sheva, the capital of the Negev, a large deserted area in the south of Israel. Wadi el Na'am is located near a hazardous industrial site of gigantic dimensions, Ramat Hovav, has no infrastructure nor electric energy. Water is provided only via storage tanks. It has no health services as the only clinic is deemed illegal and bound to be demolished, as the rest of... more »
Faysal, 14-year-old boy, sitting at night around the fire, in the unrecognised village of Wadi el Na'am (pop. 4000), close to Beer Sheva, the capital of the Negev, a large deserted area in the south of Israel. Wadi el Na'am is located near a hazardous industrial site of gigantic dimensions, Ramat Hovav, has no infrastructure nor electric energy. Water is provided only via storage tanks. It has no health services as the only clinic is deemed illegal and bound to be demolished, as the rest of the structures in the area. According to the Government?s settlements-expansion plan, land seizure programs and wall construction, there is interest in 'convincing' the Bedouins to move to pre-selected towns, such as Segev Shalom and Rahat, a real city counting more than 40.000 people. Numbering around 200.000 in Israel, the Bedouins constitute the native ethnic group of these areas, they farm, grow wheat, olives and live in complete self sufficiency. Many of them were in these lands long before the Israeli State was created and their traditional lifestyle is now threatened by subtle Government policies. The seven Bedouin towns hitherto built are all between the 10 more impoverished towns in the whole of Israel. **ITALY OUT** « less
