54
30°58′57″N / 34°57′52″E
November 14, 2011. Bedouin homestead of the Habsi family, of the ‛Azāzme tribe, in the unrecognized village of Rakhma. Tin houses, dirt roads, and a number of sire are visible (see 10), as well as the herds being led along the top left corner. The village currently has approximately 1,500 residents, a portion of whom have lived here for generations. After the war of 1948, during which the majority fled, seventeen families remained. In 1956 the remaining residents were transferred from the Ovdat/‛Abdāt region as internally displaced citizens.
Rakhma is frequently cited as a village suitable for recognition by the state. In 2009 the village council turned to Bimkom, an Israeli organization established to encourage democracy and human rights in the field of planning, for help in arguing for recognition of the village by the state. Currently an unrecognized village, the homes are under constant threat of demolition and the village remains without electricity, paved roads, sewage facilities, or garbage disposal.