49
31°18′6″N / 35°5′17″E
October 9, 2011. Outskirts of the Arab village of al-Dreijāt, established in the nineteenth century, but not recognized by the State of Israel until 2004. This is the only Arab village in the Negev that is not Bedouin. Between 250 and 350 people belonging to the Ḥammūlat Bahitz (a ḥammūla is a traditional kinship social structure) have been living in this space for 16 years. Originally the people were fallaḥīn (Arabic, “farmers”) similar to the al-Dreijāt people. This particular cluster is unrecognized by the Israeli government, which plans to establish a new recognized town for them, Marit, one kilometer away. The residents oppose this new construction. Surrounding the homes is the start of badlands (see 2), with the chalk subsoil rising in parts of the landscape to the surface. A chalk quarry is in the process of expansion a few hundred meters to the north of the site.