Since the establishment of the State of Israel, various waves
of people have been displaced. Arab villagers were displaced during and after the conflict which accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948, and their descendants are dispersed across the country,
while Bedouin communities were displaced in the southern Negev region. In addition, residents of towns near the borders with Lebanon and Gaza have in recent years experienced shorter-term displacement
due to rocket attacks during periods of conflict with Hezbollah and Hamas.
The main concern of those displaced in the context of the creation of the state of Israel, both in the north and
in the south, has been to assert their right to the property they lost when they were displaced. In 2003 the Israeli Supreme Court accepted the government’s argument that the current
security situation and the persistent assertion by Palestinian refugees of their right of return could not justify allowing the claims of the internally displaced petitioners. Meanwhile, the majority
of the land from which they were displaced has been nationalised.
In addition, Bedouin communities in the Negev face numerous protection concerns, including very limited access to
livelihoods, education and other services. The government’s programme to demolish villages it views as illegal means that communities have very precarious existence, and are at risk
of displacement. NGOs like the Regional Council of Unrecognized Arab Bedouin Villages have helped to persuade relevant ministries to halt planned demolitions of villages.
The UN does not
consider that there are any IDPs in Israel, nor does the Israeli government. Some academics, Palestinian and Arab Israeli NGOs claim that some 150,000 to 300,000 people should be called IDPs today in
Israel. These estimates are based on multiplying the original number of IDPs by the natural growth rate of the Arab population in Israel. As displacement occurred over 60 years ago, most of those
included in these estimates are in fact the children and grandchildren of people who were displaced.
Children left homeless after the heavy rains on Sunday wait for dinner distribution inside a refuge centre at Betania neighbourhood in Tegucigalpa, May 31, 2010. Stunned victims of Tropical Storm Agatha ...
