When my family and myself were invited to the Arab village Dar ElHanoun in Wadi Ara (in the north of Israel) we brought ice cream with us and requested that it be put in the fridge in the corner. Our hosts looked at each other embarrassed, and reminded us, that the village, unrecognized by the state, is not connected to the electricity. They said that usually they ask people to bring frozen water bottles to keep the food fresh.

More than eighty thousand citizens in the state of Israel live in unrecognized localities. These places do not appear on the official maps, in spite of the fact that most of them were established before the state was established. There are citizens living there without electricity, without rubbish collection, no sewage, access road and often without running water.

These days the plight of Dar ElHanoun is at the ministry of interior's desk. Dar ElHanoun is a small village established in the 1920s, about the same time as Tel Aviv. Now there are about 100 inhabitants there, living on their land. The State of Israel, in spite of being much younger than this village, tries every possible way to destroy it and evacuate its inhabitants. At the same time the state creates large Jewish localities such as Katzir and Harish, in the same area where Dar ElHanoun is located.

It's not easy to live in Dar ElHanoun: on the exit from the road to the dirt road leading to Dar ElHanoun there is no sign that announces the village. The dirt road is bumpy. Cooking is done outside, using a timber-lit stove. To deal with the lack of electricity the villagers built a solar system that provides for a few hours of illumination at night and television. The kids go to school in nearby Arara and then go to university as well.

Injustice in one small village
In official responses the clerks of the ministry of interior claim that Dar ElHanoun is a "lone group of houses" inhabited by "a few families", therefore it has to be emptied of its inhabitants. But the ministry is the one responsible for the small number of inhabitants. Who would like to live in a place that is harassed by the state, where homes are constantly demolished, no basic services are granted, and legal threats and fines never stop?

In 2001 the villagers and Arab and Jewish activists of Ta'ayush paved the village square and erected a small playground for the young. Before the asphalt cooled down the kids started riding their bikes on it. Since then the state is doing everything in its capability to destroy that road.

Two years ago the then minister of interior, Ofir Pines (today the chairman of the internal affairs committee of the Knesset) recommended that Dar ElHanoun be integrated as a neighborhood of nearby Arara. All the relevant sides agreed on that, but the state has continued to harass Dar ElHanoun. Nowadays Pines and other members of the house approached Meir Cheetrit, the minister of interior, so that he finally resolves this problem and lets the inhabitants of Dar ElHanoun live in peace and dignity on their land.

Recognizing Dar ElHanoun is a possibility to correct an injustice in one small village out of tens of unrecognized localities. It's about time to make justice.