“By the state of Israel, they are on state-owned land,” Schindler said. “It doesn’t give the bedouins the right to build on it, and it gives the state the right to demolish it, if they so choose.”

Schindler spent two weeks working with Bustan, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that attempts to reverse the environmental and social injustice presented against the bedouin Arabs who live in the region.

“We oppose the discrimination against the bedouin community, in terms of confiscating lands, house demolition, destroying crops and preventing access to grazing zones,” said Bustan’s director, Ra’ed Al-Mickawi, in an e-mail. “We seek to make a policy change to stop this type of human rights violation — gaining equality between Jews and (bedouins) for a better future in the southern side of Israel.”

The bedouins are a Muslim group that has lived on the land, now owned by the government of Israel, for thousands of years. However, they are forced to live in 36 unrecognized villages that lack basic infrastructure. Nine bedouin villages are recognized.

As of Monday, the mosque was still standing — but the volunteers, as well as the organizer, don’t know for how long.

“You don’t know at all when they are going to come or if they are going to come,” said Dana Lazarus, a Harvard University student who worked as an intern with Bustan during the summer.

Mahmod Jarbeau, who organized the construction of the mosque, said he was sad when the notice came, according to Tess Lehrich at Bustan, who translated the interview through e-mail.

“It doesn’t feel good, but I still need to finish the project,” Jarbeau said in the translated e-mail. “I will continue.”

Schindler said the bedouins in the village did not seem surprised by the demolition notice.

“The people that lived there, they almost seemed accustomed to it, which was really sad,” she said. “It was good that it didn’t get their hopes down or anything.”

The group of about six international volunteers and interns with Bustan are determined to do something about the demolition going on in the Negev, the region of Israel where many bedouins live.

The mosque will be built with three layers of a mud, sand, clay and straw mixture. The first layer was almost complete when Schindler left, and provided the demolition does not occur, the mosque is expected to be completed by December, she said.

“That was not only supposed to be a mosque, but it also was supposed to be a community center,” Schindler said. “So once it was done it was going to be for the whole village.”

One idea behind the mosque was to show the villagers the advantages of sustainable building — the mud mixture is a good insulator in the winter and also can keep the area cooler during the summer.

“People build houses out of tin, because it’s easily constructed and doesn’t require a lot of effort,” Lazarus said. “In the desert, tin is one of the worst materials you can use because it keeps houses unbearably hot in summer and unbearably cold in winter.”

The people of the village were somewhat skeptical of the building method, but as time went on, Schindler said more people came around to the idea and offered to help.

“At the present moment they haven’t seen the finished product, so they haven’t really been able to change anything,” she said. “Also, it’s harder for them in the unrecognized villages because if they change their house or start building something else, they are also at risk for a demolition.”