Following complaints from the residents a petition was sent to the Director of the ILA and the JNF to halt the plans.128 These petitions have not succeeded in stopping the Israeli land grab policies in the village. In March 2010, three months before the first demolition of the village, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture said in parliament that the planting of forests in al-Araqib was to “safeguard national lands.”129 The day before the first demolition, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated in a government meeting that allowing for a region without a Jewish majority in the Naqab would pose “a palpable threat” to Israel.130 On March 2012, Benzi Lieberman, Director of the ILA, said that the “ILA will do all in its power to keep state land from trespassers – and this includes farming – in order to safeguard the land.”131 These statements indicate that there is political motivation behind land confiscation and forestation plans in al-Araqib, and more generally, vis-à-vis Palestinian Bedouins and their lands in the Naqab. Demolitions On 27 July 2010, the ILA together with over 1,000 police officers, completely demolished the village for the first time. The ILA claimed that the destruction and evacuation of the village came after years of legal and physical battles against the Touri tribe of al-Araqib.132 More than 300 Palestinians were left homeless,133 and the majority of the families were forcibly displaced to the nearby government-planned townships such as Rahat.134 Since that first demolition in 2010 to the end of April 2017, al-Araqib has been demolished 112 times.135 Furthermore, since 2010, Israel has fined al-Araqib residents more than two million shekels (approximately $554,000) to curtail the cost of the over 100 demolitions.136 A recent wave of demolitions in the 128 Ibid. 129 Ibid. 130 Ibid. 131 Joanna Paraszczuk and Sharon Udasin, “Court Rejects 6 Beduin Negev Land Lawsuits,” The Jerusalem Post, 19 March 2012, available at: http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Court-rejects-6-BeduinNegev-land-lawsuits [accessed 21 September 2017]. 132 Jack Khoury and Yair Yagna, “Police Destroy Dozens of Buildings in Unrecognized Bedouin Village in Negev,” Haaretz, 28 July 2010, available at:http://www.haaretz.com/police-destroy-dozens-ofbuildings-in-unrecognized-bedouin-village-in-negev-1.304443 [accessed 21 September 2017]. 133 Ben-Youssef, Bishara, Rosenberg, “Forced Displacement,” supra note 120. 134 Ibid. 135 “Al-Araqeeb demolished for 112th time,” Middle East Monitor, 26 April 2017, available at: https:// www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170425-al-araqeeb-demolished-for-112th-time/ [accessed 21 September 2017]. 136 “Israeli forces demolish Bedouin village of al-Araqib for 110th time,” Ma’an News Agency, 9 March 2017, available at: http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=775870 [accessed 21 September 2017]. 46