In reality, recognition has meant very little. In most cases, the recognized villages are no better off than the unrecognized villages, and living conditions remain far worse than those in neighboring Jewish towns. Basic infrastructure and services are sorely lacking in the ‘Abu Basma’ villages, with homes still unconnected to the water network, schools without electricity, and raw sewage flowing through the center of Umm Batin, for example. Meanwhile, the first regional council elections have still not been held.
These findings are significant because under the Prawer Plan, the government is trying to move the Bedouin from the unrecognized villages to these recognized villages and the seven government-planned Bedouin towns, arguing that conditions are better there.
|