Residents of dozens of unrecognized Bedouin villages in southern Israel unimpressed by government's repeated promises to amend infrastructural neglect plaguing their communities.
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Members of the communities making up the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages (RCUV) – an independent body which represents some 80,000 residents of the Negev's unrecognized Bedouin villages – are used to empty promises. They are still living in communities lacking proper health and educational infrastructure, and they are still waiting for state authorities to recognize their plight.
According to RCVU data, the vast majority of Bedouin villages in the Negev have irregular supply of water and power, and poor health and educational services – if any.
A recent report by Physicians for Human Rights found that the residents of these villages have but one doctor for every 3,116 people. Moreover, at least 34 of the Bedouin communities have no medical services whatsoever.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3745519,00.html
This is serious and I commented on the article, responding to a few anti-Bedouin comments:
What's the matter with you?
Just get the JNF and the state to modernise the Bedouin towns. Who cares if the villages are all registered/legal. Just get it over with. How expensive can it be?
If the JNF sets up a fund for the project, I'll gladly donate for the cause.
"They can always find other [sic] country"
Why? They are Israelis. Their people fought and died for Israel. They have every right to live in Israel and we should pay more attention to their situation.
They are our allies, and you look after your allies.
Ironically, Jewish villages in the West-Bank are in very much the same situation as Bedouin villages in Israel. The Palestinian Authority provides no water or electricity and assigns no doctors or teachers to the Jewish communities. They don't even provide empty promises. Israel provides all these things to the Jewish villages (and the Arab villages too).
Currently the Palestinian Authority receives more aid from Israel per village than the Bedouins. I think this must change. Israel should give less money to her enemies and more money to Israelis.
The international community can worry about propping up Israel's enemies if that is really so important.