Case 2: Al-Araqib “Hardly anyone leaves just because they want to. If you hear about anyone leaving, you should know that they were forced to leave.” Mohammad Touri, resident of al-Araqib. Interview: Al-Araqib, 23 February 2017 Israeli forces have demolished the Palestinian village of al-Araqib more than one hundred times. (Source: alhaya.ps). Background The Naqab comprises 60 percent of the total area of Israel, and Palestinian Bedouins own 5.5 percent of it, comprising 600,000 dunums (600 km2).97 Al-Araqib constitutes one of many98 ‘unrecognized’ Bedouin villages in 97 Israel Land Authority, “Background” - Bedouin Information, n.d., available at: http://www.mmi.gov.il/ static/HanhalaPirsumim/Beduin_information.pdf [accessed 21 September 2017]. 98 The numbers reported vary from 39 to just over 50 depending on the assessment of the word village. For example, according to one HRW report, approximately 39 Bedouin villages exist in the Naqab, containing approximately 60,000 Palestinian Bedouins, about half the Bedouin population of that area. See Human Rights Watch, Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s ‘Unrecognized’ Bedouin Villages, 30 March 2008, summary available at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/03/30/ map/land-and-housing-rights-violations-israels-unrecognized-bedouin-villages 40