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In Pictures: Bedouin protest displacement

Israeli police crack down on demonstrations against planned forced evictions.

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Hundreds of Bedouins and activists took the streets of the southern city of Beersheba to protest against Prawer plan on Monday.
By Oren Ziv
Published On 16 Jul 2013

Beersheba, Israel – Protests took place across Israel and Palestine against the Prawer-Begin Plan, which if implemented by the Israeli government will displace tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens from their homes in the Negev desert.

According to the plan, which the government failed to consult the Bedouin community on when drafting, nearly all residents in the unrecognised Negev villages will be evicted and forcibly relocated to planned communities.

A general strike was announced in the Palestinian villages inside Israel and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the southern city of Beersheba, hundreds of Bedouins and activists protested in the city centre and blocked a main road. The Israeli police moved in on the demonstration, arresting 14 demonstrators, including a Bedouin minor. A number of protesters were injured in ensuing clashes with police.

In Jaffa, located in southern Tel Aviv, Jewish and Arab activists protested near the clock tower and blocked Yefet street – Jaffa’s main road. In Ramallah, Palestinians marched throughout city. However, the Palestinian authority police blocked activists from marching to the Israeli settlement of Beit El.

After the end of the Ramadan fast, hundreds of protesters gathered at Damascus gate, outside the old city in East Jerusalem. Clashes started after the Israeli police arrested a youth, followed by three more protester arrests.

Protests took place in other cities as well, such as Um el Fahem and Sakhnin in Israel.

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Israeli police arrived with horses to prevent the march in Beersheba from blocking the main road of the city.
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After a short march, protesters blocked the main road in the entrance to the city of Beersheba, chanting slogans anti-ethnic cleansing slogans.
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Shorty after the road was blocked, Israeli police attacked peaceful protesters sitting the ground.
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14 protesters were arrested at the demonstration, all of them being taken to a police station to spend the night in detention.
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One woman was injured and taken to an ambulance as a result of a police attack.
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Israeli policeman arrest a Bedouin minor during the demonstration in Beersheba.
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Hundreds of demonstrators marched during a protest against the Prawer plan in central Ramallah, West Bank on Monday.
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Palestinians chant slogans during the march in Ramallah.
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Neriman Tamimi (right) from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh takes part in the march in Ramallah. Neriman is a leading activist in the weekly protests in Nabi Saleh against the Israeli occupation.
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An Israeli police officer calls for reinforcements, as protesters start to block Yefet street in the city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv.
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Protesters gathered near the clock tower in Jaffa, blocking Yefer street for more than an hour.
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After the end of the Ramadan fast, hundreds of Palestinians gathered at Damascus gate, outside the old city of Jerusalem, to protest against the Prawer plan.
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Clashes started after the Israeli police arrested a Palestinian minor during the demonstration in Jerusalem. Later more arrests were made.
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A Palestinian woman shouts at the Israeli police, as they disperse the demonstration at Damascus gate.