Inadequate Housing, Israel, and the Bedouin of the Negev

This article examines Israel\u27s treatment of its Arab Bedouin citizens living in the Negev desert through the lens of the international human right to adequate housing. The Negev Bedouin, an agrarian indigenous community, is the most socially, politically and economically disadvantaged segment of the Arab minority in Israel. Their precarious situation is rooted primarily in Israeli land planning pursuits that have ignored Bedouin land claims in favor of settlement programs reserved exclusively for the majority population. This article documents the manner in which the overarching legal and political character of the state has led to the development of a legislative, judicial, and public policy regime aimed at forcibly evicting the Bedouin from their traditional homes in so-called unrecognized villages and transferring them to impoverished urban townships. Reviewing Israel\u27s international human rights obligations, particularly the right to adequate housing, this article critically assesses whether Israel\u27s current policies towards the Bedouin are consistent with those obligations