Nabil, 4-year-old boy living in the unrecognised village of Wadi el Na'am (pop. 4000), in close proximity to the Israel Electric Company, near Beer Sheva, the capital of the Negev, a large deserted area in the south of Israel, on Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2006. Wadi el Naíam, also refereed to as ëVillage #32í 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...
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Nabil, 4-year-old boy living in the unrecognised village of Wadi el Na'am (pop. 4000), in close proximity to the Israel Electric Company, near Beer Sheva, the capital of the Negev, a large deserted area in the south of Israel, on Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2006. Wadi el Naíam, also refereed to as ëVillage #32í 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, built by Bustan, a local NGO, which is deemed illegal and bound to be demolished, as the rest of the structures in the area. The inhabitants here suffer of cancer and mortality rates 65% higher than amongst equivalent communities in Israel. According to the Governmentís settlements-expansion plan, land seizure programs and wall construction, there is interest in ëconvincingí the Bedouins to move to pre-selected cities, 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 semi-nomadic lifestyle is now threatened by subtle Government policies. **ITALY OUT**
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