Friday, 18 February 2005Arieh O'Sullivan
Israel is removing hundreds of Beduim families squatting just beyond the perimeter fence of its main Negev air base because it fears they may acquire anti-aircraft missiles and wants to distance them from its planes, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
By moving the families, who have squatted on state land and built houses close to the fence around the Nevatim base, east of Beersheba, the Israel Air Force is moving to set up a buffer zone to reduce any missile threat.
In the IAF's largest construction project for 25 years, the base is undergoing an enormous expansion that will include paving two additional runways and the construction of quarters and hangars.
IDF intelligence has recently established that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip possess a number of anti-aircraft missiles that were smuggled in from Sinai. They are currently teaching themselves how to use them. The missiles are not "top grade."
"We are unaware of any ground-to-air shoulder-fired missiles around Nevatim. They are in Gaza only," a senior military source told the Post. But the source indicated that the IAF didn't rule out the possibility of such missiles reaching the area since the smugglers were Beduin from Sinai with close links with their Negev tribesmen.
In any case, the air force is seeking to keep Beduin structures at least 5,000 meters from the perimeter of the Nevatim base. One senior officer said the air force was "taking into account" that aircraft could be under threat. He declined to elaborate.
Ten months ago, an unidentified gunman opened automatic fire at an IDF vehicle on the road leading to the base. No one was injured in that attack. The base itself has been repeatedly infiltrated, apparently by Beduin, who have stolen equipment and left gaping holes in the fence, according to a government source who monitors building violations and land squatting.
The base is between two Beduin towns, Kseifa and Arara. It is on the eastern edge of what is known as the Saig area where tens of thousands of Beduin live in dozens of unrecognized shantytowns.
The Nevatim base is one of three built to replace the airfields in Sinai vacated by the IAF as a result of the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt which required Israel to withdraw from the peninsula.
Back in 1982, the state reached an agreement with the local Beduin tribes, who were moved off their tribal lands to make room for the base. They received handsome compensation and plots in new Beduin towns. The area was then cleared of civilian populations.
But over the years, some Beduin began returning, some unhappy with their compensation, but most because of a lack of space due to their mushrooming population.
A senior officer recently displayed to this reporter two aerial photographs. One taken about a decade ago showed the base isolated in the Negev wilderness. The new one showed the same base but with hundreds of illegal structures built by Beduin surrounding its perimeter fence.
Nevatim is home to F-16 fighter jet squadrons. According to foreign reports, the US also has a permanent presence on the base. (See the book Code Names: Deciphering US Military Plans, Programs and Operations in the 9/11 World (Steerforth Press) by William Arkin.) In the summer of 2004, the air force broke ground for the Nevatim expansion planned to turn it into the country's largest air base. It is here that the air force is to absorb squadrons from the center of the country as the IAF implements its long-range vision to move to the nation's periphery.
The new expansion is to house the entire transport fleet of the IAF currently based in Lod, adjacent to the Ben-Gurion Airport. These include the C-130 squadrons as well as the Boeing 707 refueling aircraft and the Gulfstream radar planes. Construction will also include new aircrew quarters, roads and garages. This is the largest construction endeavor by the air force in 25 years.
The cost of the new base is estimated to be about NIS 1.5 billion and is planned to be completed by 2008. Senior IAF sources said the expansion was to be on the dunes south of the existing base.
It is this area where the small, unrecognized Beduin village of al-Sidr is located. Some of its houses have been built next to the base's fence. In December, owners of 50 structures there received demolition orders. They all belong to the Abu Gamde clan. About 300 people live in the houses.
"This means destroying an entire village in the Negev," said Ariel Dloomy, a coordinator for the Negev Coexistence Forum.
Dloomy said that the villagers had originally lived on the site of the base but were moved to their present location 22 years ago until a compensation package could be arranged.
He said they were offered plots in Arara but none were available, and then plots in the new town of Abu Krinat, but they didn't exist either.
"They want to come to an agreement, but they are not being offered any realistic alternatives," said Dloomy.
Dloomy said he hadn't heard of any plans by the military to create a 5,000-meter buffer zone around the perimeter of the base.
In the meantime, Adalah, an Israeli group that provides legal defense for the country's Arab citizens, has petitioned the courts to stay the demolition orders.
"At a time when the state talks of a bridging process, they are destroying houses. We protested against it, but I am not so sure it will work," Dloomy said. |
Friday, 18 February 2005
Jerusalem Post
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