Makhul

Makhul is located in the Mar'it region near Arad in the Negev.[2] Its name appears as מכחול in Hebrew and مكحول in Arabic.[1] The available geographic source places it with Drijat and Kukhla in the same regional cluster.[2]

The Abu Basma Regional Council was established in 2005 and incorporated Makhul among eleven Bedouin villages.[4] The group was described at the time as including "unrecognized and new" villages and was subsequently referred to as a group of newly recognized settlements.[4] The cited source does not provide a founding date specific to Makhul.

The 2019 Israel Central Bureau of Statistics locality list records Makhul under the romanized spelling "MAKCHUL," assigns it locality code 1343, and gives a population of 2,105.[3] A separate source reports that approximately 25,000 Bedouin lived collectively in the settlements incorporated into the Abu Basma Regional Council; that figure applies to the group rather than to Makhul alone.[4]

The Abu Basma Regional Council received an allocation of NIS 470 million for development projects across its member settlements.[4] The source does not identify what portion, if any, was assigned specifically to Makhul.

CAMERA includes Makhul in a list of communities that Israel built for its Bedouin population, alongside Rahat, Kuseife, Shaqib al-Salam, Ar'arat an-Naqab, Lakiya, Tel as-Sabi, Hura, Tirabin al-Sana, Mulada, Abu Krinat, Bir Hadaj, Qasr al-Sir, and Umm Batin.[7]

Makhul is grouped in reporting based on Regavim Movement data with the neighboring Bedouin settlements of Drijat and Kukhla, all three in the Mar'it region near Arad.[2] Collectively, the three settlements were allocated 15,548 dunams, equivalent to approximately 1,554.8 hectares or 3,840 acres. Of that area, 2,458 dunams, or approximately 15.8%, were reported as in use, with a combined population of 2,819 residents.[2] The figures are aggregated and do not represent Makhul's land use or population in isolation.

An Israeli government document records the construction of a 34-classroom elementary school in Makhul at an execution cost of NIS 17,357,742.[1] The same document records a multi-purpose building and mother-and-child clinic at an execution cost of NIS 3,340,000.[1]

A separate site known as Khirbet Makhul, also spelled Khirbet Makhoul, was described as a Jordan Valley encampment of rural Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.[5]

The U.S. Department of State's 2013 Human Rights Report states that the Israel Defense Forces demolished Palestinian structures and temporary tents supplied by the international community there in September 2013. The report also states that approximately 100 rural Palestinians were evicted and that humanitarian aid was blocked from reaching the community on four occasions.[5] On September 20, diplomats, international aid workers, and United Nations representatives attempted to deliver emergency tents, resulting in clashes with the IDF.[5]

Khallet Makhul is described as a Palestinian herding community in the northern Jordan Valley.[6] It was one of seven communities in Area C of the West Bank whose 17 members filed a petition with Israel's High Court of Justice seeking protection from settler violence and access to vital services.[6]

The petition, filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, alleged that the communities had existed for decades, that state agencies had failed to protect them from extremist violence, that they had been denied access to pasture and water, and that unauthorized outposts and encampments had been established nearby.[6] ACRI characterized the communities as being in immediate danger of being uprooted.[6] These were allegations reported from the petition, not independently adjudicated findings.[6]

Separately, the Hebrew noun מָחוֹל (makhol) means "dance," "dancing," or "a round dance." It derives from the verb root חוּל, which is associated with twisting, whirling, and dancing, as well as trembling, writhing, travail, anguish, and pain.[8] The available sources do not establish that the Negev locality's name derives from this Hebrew noun.

The form מַחֹל appears six times in the Hebrew Bible and is used in contexts of bodily movement associated particularly with praise, joy, and celebration.[8] Psalms 149:3 and 150:4 place dance alongside musical instruments as part of praise.[8] Jeremiah 31:4 and 31:13 associate dancing with Israel's restoration and the transformation of mourning into joy. Psalm 30:12 describes mourning being turned into dancing, while Lamentations 5:15 reverses the image by describing dancing turned into mourning.[8]

The similar surname Makhoul is associated with Amir Makhoul, a Haifa-based Arab writer and public figure who headed Itijah, an umbrella organization for Arab civil-society associations in Israel. He is the brother of former Knesset member Issam Makhoul.[9]

Makhoul was arrested in Haifa in early May 2010 on allegations of espionage and contact with a foreign agent connected to Hezbollah. Several computers were confiscated from his home.[9] On October 27, 2010, he pleaded guilty under a plea agreement to contact with a foreign agent, conspiracy to assist an enemy during wartime, espionage, and aggravated espionage in connection with Hezbollah. One of the more serious original charges, assisting the enemy during wartime, was removed from the indictment as part of the agreement.[10] The prosecution alleged that he had transmitted the locations of a Mossad facility, a Rafael plant, and Shin Bet facilities in northern Israel, and had passed the names and personal details of six Israeli residents he believed could be recruited to assist Hezbollah.[11]

On January 30, 2011, the Haifa District Court sentenced Makhoul to nine years in prison and twelve months of suspended imprisonment. The judgment described him as carrying out Hezbollah-assigned tasks through encrypted communications and committing espionage-related offenses on at least ten occasions.[11] Makhoul and his family characterized the case as politically motivated.[10][12] His family also alleged that he had been subjected to prolonged physical restraint and deprivation of sleep, food, and water during interrogation; these were family allegations rather than findings established by the court.[12]