Connexions Calendar

Being Bedouin in a Jewish State

April 07, 2015

Amos Gvirtz, a long-time Jewish activist in Israel on a tour of Canada and US - Don't Say We Did Not Know - will speak to the situation of the non-Jewish population in Israel with a specific focus on the Bedouin of the Naqab or Negev and their struggle to remain on their ancestral land.

Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel, inhabitants of the Naqab desert since the seventh century, are the most vulnerable community in Israel. For over 60 years, the indigenous Arab Bedouin have faced a state policy of displacement, home demolitions and dispossession of their ancestral land. Today, 70,000 Arab Bedouin citizens live in 35 villages. The State of Israel considers the villages "unrecognized" and the inhabitants "trespassers on State land," so it denies the citizens access to state infrastructure like water, electricity, sewage, education, health care and roads to "encourage" the Arab Bedouin citizens to give up their ancestral land.

Amos is a long-time Israeli peace activist. He is among the first to refuse to serve in the Israeli army. His peace activism has taken him to participate in many Israeli peace groups, including anti-nuclear work in Israel and among the activists who established the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Currently he is active in supporting the rights of the Bedouin in the Negev as a member of the Israeli Co-Existence Forum.

Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: Beit Zatoun
Location: 612 Markham St. Toronto, ON
Website: http://beitzatoun.org/event/being-bedouin-in-a-jewish-state/
Categories: International

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