Kibbutz Haartzi, the Mapam-sponsored kibbutz movement, has embarrassed Mapam’s urban circles by announcing its intention to establish settlements in the Pithat Rafah region, an area sequestered by Israeli authorities several years ago to provide a buffer between the Gaza Strip and Sinai. Mapam was sharply critical of that move which required the dispossession of Bedouin tribes in the region, and has always demanded that the Bedouins be allowed to return to their lands.
The announcement by Kibbutz Haartzi contained the proviso that the Bedouin’s rights be upheld. Nevertheless, its plans to place settlements in the area were seen in some Mapam quarters as an erosion of the party’s position on the issue. Kibbutz Haartzi has established no new settlements in recent years, concentrating instead on the development of established kibbutzim.
It recently elected former Absorption Minister Nathan Peled as its secretary general, replacing Shimon Avidan and announced that the time has come to start new settlement projects. In addition to the Rafah area, Kibbutz Haartzi plans to build new kibbutzim in the Jordan Valley, the Arava region, the Negev and Galilee.
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