‘You talk about justice, democracy and peace’

THEY BEAT HIM up and took his car when he went to ask for the confiscation documents in Lod. The Green Patrol beat him up and broke his thumb, but the doctor said he was faking.

Nuri is from the Negev but they took his land so he grew up in Lod. He was active, there, in the struggle against house demolitions – that’s how Uri and Isadora met him, a few years back. Uri and Isadora visit Nuri every few months. Today I’m with them and Uri, as he drives, talks about the man we are going to see.

Nuri is Bedouin. He sits on his ancestral land to stop them taking it. His tin shed was demolished. Then he put up a tent; it was confiscated. Nuri is a Bedouin from the Elokbi tribe.

Where Nuri sits today, there used to be a village – stone houses and barns, not only tents. The British, pre-Israel, acknowledged tribal law in the Negev – a tribal courthouse stood there until ‘48. In 1948 Israel imposed a military government and the Bedouin were required to have permits to enter their land. Finally, they were expelled, pushed into an area in the arid North-Eastern Negev. The Western part, with water sources, was required for Jewish use.

One day, the military governor sent in jeeps and took away the Bedouin’s IDs, giving them 48 hours to ‘go to Abdullah’ – king of Jordan at the time. They said the area was required for three months, for military manoeuvres, but they demolished the houses and never let the Bedouin back.

Nuri decided not to give up his land. He moved back a year ago, into his tin shed (now demolished, replaced by the tent torn down, replaced by his car, replaced by the tent he sits in today).

HOW DO YOU take land away? You write a law: the Land Appropriation Act. This is used to take the land from Palestinian citizens of Israel – because they are not covered by the Absentee Property Law, which says Palestinians who fled in ‘48 no longer own their land.

Here is the procedure:

1. Expel the Palestinians illegally.
2. Do not allow them back.
3. Create a law that says people who are not on their land for a certain period lose it. It is now state land.

A few years ago, they built a Jewish settlement, Gva’ot Bar, on Nuri’s land. Here you can see Gva’ot Bar, behind its security gates and perimeter fence. There is a sentry post to the left, where visitors will be checked. Jews live like this on Arab land.

THE TURNOFF to Nuri’s patch from the highway has been blocked. Uri veers into the sand, the scorched grassy land.

Nuri is sitting on his bed under a black, netting tent. Apart from a few cardboard boxes and a toilet roll, there’s nothing else. Green patrol took it all away. Nuri sleeps under the sky every night. In the daytime, he covers the mattress with plastic, to keep away the sand.

Nuri was born in a house, the remains of which stand nearby. ‘There is an ongoing trial about this land. They say it’s state land, so I say to my lawyer, listen, it’s been appropriated. We have documents showing we paid taxes for this land.’ He shows us a record from the court hearing, with an Arab judge.

Last time Green Patrol came, Nuri asked one of them – Itzik – why they were doing this. Another man attacked him from behind and broke his thumb. Then they cuffed his legs and took him away. Nuri kept saying he was injured but the doctor only said: ‘You’re pretending; and even if you’re not, there’s nothing to be done.’ They took his heart medicine. He shouted for it, but when midnight came, he realised he wasn't getting it back.

FRIENDS arrive – Ibrahim Abed, from Taybe, and his sons. Wind pushes at the tent and Ibrahim asks ‘the kids’ (about 30) to sort it out. They lift flaps; a breeze rushes through.

Nuri finally got his medicine. It took them 36 hours. Then they went to court. There were 22 Bedouin held there, in a room the size of this tent. Not a single Jew.

‘There was no human feeling. They were like robots,’ Nuri says. ‘I could write a book about just one day around you Jews, the way that you behave.’

They charged Nuri with assault, and with being ‘a serial invader of state land’. The court imposed a restraining order: Nuri can no longer enter the Negev below Hadera.

‘I am not violent,’ says Nuri. ‘Everybody knows this. There is a recorded history. I have never been violent because I don’t believe in it.’

His brother took him to hospital where they X-rayed the arm and put a cast on it. That night, Nuri returned to his land. He slept in his car because the tent was gone. But then they took his car when he went to court to photocopy his evidence file. So he bought another tent. There’s a warrant out on this one now. He came back the other day and found it on the bed.

‘I am happy you come here to sit with me,’ he tells us. ‘It gives me strength.

‘I have taken a vow never to leave. I will die here, or in jail. You talk about justice, democracy and peace – but where are they? It’s all lies. It is a disgrace to the Jewish people.’

Mossawa

Comments

[Blag Lady]

An inspirational piece and beautifully written and illustrated. The portraits are first class. It is hard to tell stories of injustice and abuse that let grace and love shine through. Well done.

[Leila]

Thank you Kaz. I'm so glad we did that class together in London - it really helped me shape things and get perspective.

[delme]

More good writing innit. Sad story...

[M]

Very thought-provoking - there's obviously two sides to every story. Being Jewish, I understand the need for Jews to have a homeland, bearing in mind what has happened in the past and the constant anti-semitism. On the other hand, that doesn't excuse brutal behaviour. It's very difficult to be a Jew.

[Jacqui]

Leila, when he says 'I am happy you come here to sit with me. It gives me strength,' is he talking about you? Did you take the photos? Are you sitting with him? What a moving piece of journalism. It should be in a newspaper or magazine. Jxxxx

[Leila]

Jacqui - yes, he was talking to me, Isadora and Uri as we sat with him. I did take the pics. Thanks xx

[mike marcus]

M: I dont agree that its very difficult to be a Jew. I think that its much more difficult to be a Palestinian, Bedouin or any of the other people who are opressed by us.

Nice post Leila. Welcome home - come visit my blog sometime and say hi.

[lisoosh]

This is just so depressing. Who are the green patrol?

[Leila]

Thanks Mike - I saw your blog, very nice. I'll stop by again.

Lisoosh - I don't know for sure who he means by green patrol but think it's some kind of police / border police.

[Alice]

Darling I just wanted to say something about this piece while it was in my mind. i think the reason that i loved your photographs so much was that they showed Nuri looking so positive. the colours were so peaceful, the tent so diginified and the photo with Nuri and his friends has such a beautigul charm.

I say this because I really think the most brilliant facet of your writing is in the care and empthy which radiates from your descriptions. The most memorable scene for me in your piece about Bethlehem was the meal you had with Alex when you arrived.

And if I was allowed to give you some advice about your writing, i would say include these descriptions as much as you can in your pieces. It just adds a weight that political comment can sometimes miss.

I was particularily interested in your relationship to Nuri, and his reaction to you. In a way, this is the most intersting relatiionship in the piece. And I truly believe that personal stories are the most vivid politics - they are for me anyway. And a scene describing the treatment of Nuri by the authories, plucked from the many experiences he had over the years, would illuminate a million contadictions and inconsistencies which permeate the situation.

Anyway, these were just some thoughts that came into my head so I hope you don't mind me passing them on.

And congratualtion again, it really is an exceptional piece.

Next time film him!!!

so much love,

xx

[Uri Z]

The green patrol are a kind of a police of the ministry of agriculture. They are busy harrasing the Bedouins (they clain that the Bedouins reside on state land) and the Bedouin shepherds (they try to eliminate their work as shepherds saying that their livestock does not have all kinds of veterinary certificates). They are there to assure the Jewish domination of the open spaces. Check this one: http://www.geog.bgu.ac.il/members/yiftachel/paper2.html