This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nishidani (talk | contribs) at 13:17, 14 August 2015 (Fixing POV mess. Removed Arutz Sheva. No need for that since regavim is well reported). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 13:17, 14 August 2015 by Nishidani (talk | contribs) (Fixing POV mess. Removed Arutz Sheva. No need for that since regavim is well reported)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Regavim (רגבים) is an Israeli NGO, one that, according to its critics, is described as a 'settler-colonial NGO'. It describes itself as pursuing “the return of the rule of law to all areas and aspects of the land and its preservation.” The word 'land' refers to Jeweish national land.Critics argue that Regavim aims to 'try to force the state to speed up and increase the execution of home demolition orders and forced relocations of non-Jews, be they of Palestinians in the West Bank or Bedouin in the Negev.' It was founded by Yehuda Eliahu, a functionary of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, and its objectives converge with those of Israeli settlers, with whom the group maintains close institutional ties.
The name, Regavim, lit. "patch of soul," is taken from the Hebrew word “regev,” meaning a very small piece of land, a word used in a Zionist poem about reclaiming the Land of Israel, “dunam by dunam, regev by regev.”
Regavim has been described by Nicola Perugini and Kareem Rabie asn embodying a new type of political activism by the Israeli far right which:
uses liberal techniques of struggle for the extension of an exclusivist Zionist agenda
Regavim argues that the Jewish people are 'being robbed of the Land of Israel . .ever so quietly without the roar of battle and the clamor of war' Regavim appears to mirror the practices of human rights organizations like Yesh Din, which appeal to the courts on half on Palestinian communities, with the difference that for Regavim, all of Israel and the Palestinian territories is 'national land' and Palestinian habitation is an "illegal overtaking" of that land. It systematically inverts the terms of human rights language, by designating Jewish settlements as legal, and Palestinians under the Israeli occupation as engaged in illegal occupation, settlement, and outpost construction. By using a network of settlers to scout, photograph and report on Palestinian construction, it monitors and then reports on constructions by Palestinians that lack full Israeli legal permits, and prosecutes cases of such construction through the judicial system.
Regavim focuses most intensely on illegal construction in the Galilee, Negev, and the West Bank. According to its director Ari Briggs, the courts and Civil Administration are often slow to act against illegal Palestinian construction activity, and Regavim files lawsuits to prod the courts to issue demolition orders.
In September 2011, Regavim petitioned the International Criminal Court to revoke the decision the receive the Palestinian Authority declaration recognizing the ICC’s jurisdiction which would have tacitly accepted its statehood. In April 2012 the petition was accepted on the ground the PA is not a recognized state.
In February 2015 Regavim released a report documenting the illegal construction of houses funded by the British charity Oxfam; Oxfam defended its violation of the law,stating that it had undertaken the illegal activity on "“humanitarian grounds.”
References
- ^ Nicola Perugini, Neve Gordon, The Human Right to Dominate,Oxford University Press, 2015 p.116.
- ^ Ilene Prusher, The Susya: Next Outrage in the Israeli-Palestinian Dance of Build-and-destroy,' Haaretz 4 August 2015
- ^ Nicola Perugini and Kareem Rabie, 'Human Right to the Colony,' in Tammaso Sbriccoli,Stefano Jacoviello, Shifting Borders: European Perspectives on Creolisation, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012 pp.35-55 p.48
- ^ Traiman, Alex (9 June 2013). "NGO counters illegal Palestinian and Arab building amid global focus on Jewish construction". JNS News Service. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- "ICC: No Cast Lead probe as PA not a state". Jerusalem Post. April 3, 2012.
- Sanderson, E.B. (6 February 2015). "EU Breaching International Law Using Taxpayers Money By Building Palestinian Homes On Israeli Land". Breitbart (website). Retrieved 11 August 2015.