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The '''Negev Bedouin''' ({{lang-ar|بدو النقب}}, ''Badū an-Naqab''; {{lang-he|הבדואים בנגב}} ''Habeduim Banegev'') are traditionally pastoral ] ] tribes living in the ] region in ] who hold close ties to the ] of the ]. The '''Negev Bedouin''' ({{lang-ar|بدو النقب}}, ''Badū an-Naqab''; {{lang-he|הבדואים בנגב}} ''Habeduim Banegev'') are traditionally pastoral ] ] tribes living in the ] region in ].


From the end of the Ottoman rule, a process of ] was imposed on the Negev Bedouin which accelerated after the founding of the State of Israel.<ref name = Kurt/> In the ], most resettled in neighbouring regions. Between 1968 and 1989, Israel built seven ]s in the northeast of the Negev for the Bedouin population, with about half of them relocating to these areas. Others remained in ] built without planning which lacked basic services such as electricity and running water. The Israeli government has gradually recognized some of them and taken measures to improve infrastructure and basic services.
==Summary==
From the end of the Ottoman rule a current process of forced ] of the Negev Bedouin has begun, which was considerably accelerated after the founding of the State of Israel.<ref name = Kurt/> In the ], most Bedouin left to neighbouring regions. Between 1968 and 1989, Israel built seven ]s in the north-east of the Negev to concentrate the remaining Bedouin population in order to sedentarize and ] it. About half of the population was transferred to the townships. The rest remained in ] built spontaneously by the Bedouin without any general planning and thus lacking basic services: electricity, running water, etc. While the Israeli government promotes the abolishment of unrecognized villages, gradually recognizing some of them and subsequently improving their infrastructure or attracting their population to government-built planned townships, the Bedouin want all of them to be recognized and provided with common basic services.


Estimated to number some 170,000,<ref name="Reuters">, ], June 27, 2012</ref> out of 250,000 Israeli Bedouin (2012),<ref name="autogenerated13">Ben Sales, , ], August 20, 2012</ref> they comprise 12% of the ].<ref name=autogenerated12>Maha Qupty. ; De la Marginación a la Ciudadanía, 38 Casos de Production Social del Hábitat, Forum Barcelona, Habitat International Coalition. Case study, 2004</ref> Twelve percent of Israel's total population lives in the Negev,<ref>; Oxford Health Alliance, 2008 (stat from 2004)</ref> and Negev Bedouin constitute approximately 25% percent of that number.<ref name=autogenerated11>Kandy Ringer.; BBS News March 31, 2008</ref> Estimated to number some 170,000,<ref name="Reuters">, ], June 27, 2012</ref> out of 250,000 Israeli Bedouin (2012),<ref name="autogenerated13">Ben Sales, , ], August 20, 2012</ref> they comprise 12% of the ].<ref name=autogenerated12>Maha Qupty. ; De la Marginación a la Ciudadanía, 38 Casos de Production Social del Hábitat, Forum Barcelona, Habitat International Coalition. Case study, 2004</ref> Twelve percent of Israel's total population lives in the Negev,<ref>; Oxford Health Alliance, 2008 (stat from 2004)</ref> and Negev Bedouin constitute approximately 25% percent of that number.<ref name=autogenerated11>Kandy Ringer.; BBS News March 31, 2008</ref>


==Demographic features==
==Definition==
] ]
Negev Bedouin are formerly nomadic and later also semi-nomadic ]s who live by rearing livestock in the deserts of ]. The community is traditional and conservative, with a well-defined value system that directs and monitors behaviour and interpersonal relations.<ref name = AbuSaad>{{cite journal Negev Bedouin are formerly nomadic and later also semi-nomadic ]s who live by rearing livestock in the deserts of ]. The community is traditional and conservative, with a well-defined value system that directs and monitors behaviour and interpersonal relations.<ref name = AbuSaad>{{cite journal
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==History== ==History==
===Antiquity===

===Early history===
] near ], ] ]] ] near ], ] ]]
Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing. They also earned income by transporting goods and people<ref>HIDDEN HISTORY, SECRET PRESENT: THE ORIGINS AND STATUS OF AFRICAN PALESTINIANS, Susan Beckerleg, translated by Salah Al Zaroo </ref> across the desert.<ref name =Ira /> Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly. The first recorded nomadic settlement in Sinai dates back 4,000-7,000 years.<ref name =Ira>{{cite journal Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing. They also earned income by transporting goods and people<ref>HIDDEN HISTORY, SECRET PRESENT: THE ORIGINS AND STATUS OF AFRICAN PALESTINIANS, Susan Beckerleg, translated by Salah Al Zaroo </ref> across the desert.<ref name =Ira /> Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly. The first recorded nomadic settlement in Sinai dates back 4,000-7,000 years.<ref name =Ira>{{cite journal
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During the 6th century, Emperor ] sent ] and ] slaves to the Sinai to build ]. Over time these slaves converted to ], and adopted an Arab Bedouin lifestyle.<ref name =Ira /> During the 6th century, Emperor ] sent ] and ] slaves to the Sinai to build ]. Over time these slaves converted to ], and adopted an Arab Bedouin lifestyle.<ref name =Ira />
===Islamic era===

In the 7th century, the ] ] dynasty defeated the ] armies, conquering ]. The Umayyads began sponsoring building programs throughout Palestine, a region in close proximity to the dynastic capital in ], and the Bedouin flourished. However, this activity decreased after the capital was move to ] during the subsequent ] reign.<ref name =Uri>{{cite journal In the 7th century, the ] ] dynasty defeated the ] armies, conquering ]. The Umayyads began sponsoring building programs throughout Palestine, a region in close proximity to the dynastic capital in ], and the Bedouin flourished. However, this activity decreased after the capital was move to ] during the subsequent ] reign.<ref name =Uri>{{cite journal
| author = Uzi Avner; Jodi Magness | author = Uzi Avner; Jodi Magness
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}}</ref> }}</ref>


===Late Ottoman period=== ===Ottoman era===
Most of the Negev Bedouin tribes migrated to the Negev from the Arabian Desert, Transjordan, Egypt, and the Sinai from the 18th century onwards.<ref></ref><ref>Havatzelet Yahel, Ruth Kark, Seth J. Frantzman, , Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2012, pp. 3-14</ref> Traditional Bedouin lifestyle began to change after the French ] of ] in 1798. The rise of the puritanical ] sect forced them to reduce their raiding of ]. Instead, the Bedouin acquired a monopoly on guiding pilgrim caravans to ], as well as selling them provisions. The opening of the ] reduced the dependence on desert caravans and attracted the Bedouin to newly formed settlements that sprung up along the canal.<ref name =Ira /> Most of the Negev Bedouin tribes migrated to the Negev from the Arabian Desert, Transjordan, Egypt, and the Sinai from the 18th century onwards.<ref></ref><ref>Havatzelet Yahel, Ruth Kark, Seth J. Frantzman, , Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2012, pp. 3-14</ref> Traditional Bedouin lifestyle began to change after the French ] of ] in 1798. The rise of the puritanical ] sect forced them to reduce their raiding of ]. Instead, the Bedouin acquired a monopoly on guiding pilgrim caravans to ], as well as selling them provisions. The opening of the ] reduced the dependence on desert caravans and attracted the Bedouin to newly formed settlements that sprung up along the canal.<ref name =Ira />


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During ], the Negev Bedouin fought with the ] against the ], but later withdrew from the conflict. Hamad Pasha al-Sufi (died 1923), Sheikh of the Nijmat sub-tribe of the ], led a force of 1,500 men which joined the Turkish offensive against the Suez Canal.<ref>Palestine Exploration Quarterly (October 1937). Page 244.</ref> During ], the Negev Bedouin fought with the ] against the ], but later withdrew from the conflict. Hamad Pasha al-Sufi (died 1923), Sheikh of the Nijmat sub-tribe of the ], led a force of 1,500 men which joined the Turkish offensive against the Suez Canal.<ref>Palestine Exploration Quarterly (October 1937). Page 244.</ref>


===The British mandate=== ===British mandate era===
The ] in Palestine brought order to the Negev; however, this order was accompanied by losses in sources of income and poverty among the Bedouin. The Bedouin nevertheless retained their lifestyle, and a 1927 report describes them as the "untamed denizens of the Arabian deserts."<ref name =Ira /> The British also established the first formal schools for the Bedouin.<ref name = AbuSaad/> The ] in Palestine brought order to the Negev; however, this order was accompanied by losses in sources of income and poverty among the Bedouin. The Bedouin nevertheless retained their lifestyle, and a 1927 report describes them as the "untamed denizens of the Arabian deserts."<ref name =Ira /> The British also established the first formal schools for the Bedouin.<ref name = AbuSaad/>


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Mandatory land policies created legal and demographic pressures for sedentarization, and by the end of the British Mandate the majority of the Bedouin were settled. They built some 60 new villages and dispersed settlements, populated by 27,500 people in 1945, according to the Mandate authorities.<ref name="Frantzman" /> The only exception were the Negev Bedouin who remained semi-nomadic, but it was clear that sooner or later they will be settled, too. Mandatory land policies created legal and demographic pressures for sedentarization, and by the end of the British Mandate the majority of the Bedouin were settled. They built some 60 new villages and dispersed settlements, populated by 27,500 people in 1945, according to the Mandate authorities.<ref name="Frantzman" /> The only exception were the Negev Bedouin who remained semi-nomadic, but it was clear that sooner or later they will be settled, too.


===1948 War=== ===1948 war===
Prior to the founding of the State of Israel, the Negev’s population consisted almost entirely of 70,000 Bedouin.<ref name=Swirski>Shlomo Swirski and Yael Hasson. ; Adva Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev: Center for Bedouin Studies & Development Research Unit and, Negev Center for Regional Development, 2006. </ref> Prior to the founding of the State of Israel, the Negev’s population consisted almost entirely of 70,000 Bedouin.<ref name=Swirski>Shlomo Swirski and Yael Hasson. ; Adva Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev: Center for Bedouin Studies & Development Research Unit and, Negev Center for Regional Development, 2006. </ref>


During the ], started at the end of 1947, Nahum Sarig, the ] commander in the Negev, instructed his officers in February 1948 that "Our job is to appear before the Arabs as a ruling force which functions forcefully but with justice and fairness". With the provisions that they avoid harming women, children and friendly Arabs the orders stated that shepherds grazing on Jewish land should be driven off by gun-fire, that searches of Arab settlements be conducted "politely but firmly" and "you are permitted to execute any man found in possession of a weapon".<ref>Morris, Benny (1987) ''The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949.'' Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33028-9. Page 36.</ref> During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Nahum Sarig, the ] commander in the Negev, instructed his officers that "Our job is to appear before the Arabs as a ruling force which functions forcefully but with justice and fairness". With the provisions that they avoid harming women, children and friendly Arabs the orders stated that shepherds grazing on Jewish land should be driven off by gun-fire, that searches of Arab settlements be conducted "politely but firmly" and "you are permitted to execute any man found in possession of a weapon".<ref>Morris, Benny (1987) ''The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949.'' Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33028-9. Page 36.</ref>
], 1950s]] ], 1950s]]


During the war, most Negev Bedouin favoured the Arab side of the conflict and thus fled or were expelled to surrounding areas. In March 1948 Bedouin and semi-Bedouin communities begun to leave their homes and encampments in response to Palmach retaliation raids following attacks on water-pipelines to Jewish settlements.<ref>Morris. Page 57.</ref> On 16 August 1948 the ] launched a full-scale clearing operation in the ]-] area dispersing and expelling villagers and Bedouin for "military reasons".<ref name="Khalidi">Khalidi, 1992, p.127.</ref> At the end of September the ] launched an operation west of ] expelling Arabs and confiscating their livestock.<ref>Morris. Page 215.</ref> In early 1949 the ] moved thousands of Bedouin from south and west of Beersheba to a concentration zone east of the town. In November 1949, 500 families were expelled across the border into Jordan and on September 2, 1950 some 4,000 Bedouin were forced across the border with Egypt.<ref>Morris. Page 246.</ref> During the war, most Negev Bedouin favoured the Arab side of the conflict and thus fled or were expelled to surrounding areas. In March 1948 Bedouin and semi-Bedouin communities begun to leave their homes and encampments in response to Palmach retaliation raids following attacks on water-pipelines to Jewish settlements.<ref>Morris. Page 57.</ref> On 16 August 1948 the ] launched a full-scale clearing operation in the ]-] area dispersing and expelling villagers and Bedouin for "military reasons".<ref name="Khalidi">Khalidi, 1992, p.127.</ref> At the end of September the ] launched an operation west of ] expelling Arabs and confiscating their livestock.<ref>Morris. Page 215.</ref> In early 1949 the ] moved thousands of Bedouin from south and west of Beersheba to a concentration zone east of the town. In November 1949, 500 families were expelled across the border into Jordan and on September 2, 1950 some 4,000 Bedouin were forced across the border with Egypt.<ref>Morris. Page 246.</ref>


Of the approximately 70,000 that lived in the area before the war about 11,000-18,000 remained. Most of the remaining people had been uprooted by the war and relocated from the northwestern to the northeastern Negev<ref name=Swirski/><ref>Falah, Ghazi. "Israeli State Policy towards Bedouin Sedentarization in the Negev"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' 19 (2), pp. 71-90 (1989)</ref><ref>Ismael Abu Sa'ad. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2000</ref> Of the approximately 70,000 Bedouin who lived in the area before the war about 11,000-18,000 remained. Most had relocated from the northwestern to the northeastern Negev<ref name=Swirski/><ref>Falah, Ghazi. "Israeli State Policy towards Bedouin Sedentarization in the Negev"; ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' 19 (2), pp. 71-90 (1989)</ref><ref>Ismael Abu Sa'ad. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2000</ref>


===After the War=== ===State of Israel===
The first Israeli government headed by ] ] opposed the return of the Bedouin from Jordan and Egypt just as it opposed the return of most of the ]s. At first he wanted to expel all the remaining Bedouin, since they were small in numbers, but later he changed his mind. The lands of the displaced Bedouin were nationalized and the area was declared a military area, banning the Bedouin from entering. The first Israeli government headed by ] ] opposed the return of the Bedouin from Jordan and Egypt. At first he wanted to expel the few remaining Bedouin but changed his mind. The lands were nationalized and the area was declared a military zone. The government saw the Negev as a potential home for the masses of Jewish immigrants, including 700,000 ]. In the following years, some 50 Jewish settlements were established in the Negev.<ref name=Swirski/>

From the Israeli government's point of view, these lands served as an attractive reserve on which to settle many hundreds of thousands of Jews who had flooded the Jewish state these years, including a large number of ] who were expelled or fled from the Arab states (they numbered at least 700,000 people). In the following few years, some 50 Jewish settlements were established in the Negev.<ref name=Swirski/>


The Bedouin who remained in the Negev belonged to the ] confederation<ref name = Lustik>{{cite book The Bedouin who remained in the Negev belonged to the ] confederation<ref name = Lustik>{{cite book
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| pages = 57, 134–6 | pages = 57, 134–6
| authorlink = Ian Lustick | authorlink = Ian Lustick
}}</ref> as well as some smaller groups such as the ] and the ]. They were relocated by the Israeli government in the 1950s and 1960s to a restricted zone in the northeast corner of the ], called the ''Siyagh'' ({{lang-ar|السياغ}} {{lang-he|אזור הסייג}}, an Arabic word that can be translated as "the permitted area") made up of relatively infertile land in 10% of the Negev desert in the northeast.<ref>Hamdan, H. "The Policy of Settlement and Spatial Judaization in the Naqab" Adalah News (11 -2005)</ref><ref name=Bedouin>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwgia.org/graphics/Synkron-Library/Documents/Noticeboard/News/Middle%20East/Beduinreport2005.pdf|title=The Indigenous Bedouin of the Negev Desert in Israel|page=8|publisher=Negev Coexistence Forum|unused_data=PDF format of report available at International Workgroup for Indigenous Affairs }}</ref> }}</ref> as well as some smaller groups such as the ] and the ]. They were relocated by the Israeli government in the 1950s and 1960s to a restricted zone in the northeast corner of the Negev, called the ''Siyagh'' ({{lang-ar|السياغ}} {{lang-he|אזור הסייג}}, an Arabic word that can be translated as the "permitted area") made up of relatively infertile land in 10% of the Negev desert in the northeast.<ref>Hamdan, H. "The Policy of Settlement and Spatial Judaization in the Naqab" Adalah News (11 -2005)</ref><ref name=Bedouin>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwgia.org/graphics/Synkron-Library/Documents/Noticeboard/News/Middle%20East/Beduinreport2005.pdf|title=The Indigenous Bedouin of the Negev Desert in Israel|page=8|publisher=Negev Coexistence Forum|unused_data=PDF format of report available at International Workgroup for Indigenous Affairs }}</ref>


In 1951, the ] reported the deportation of about 7,000 Negev Bedouin to Jordan, the ] and Sinai, but many returned undetected.<ref>Cook, Jonathan. BEDOUIN "TRANSFER". MERIP. May 10, 2003. Retrieved July 4th, 07.</ref> The new government failed to issue the Bedouin identity cards until 1952 and deported thousands of Bedouin who remained within the new borders.<ref>], A Land Without People: Israel, Transfer and the Palestinians, 1949-1996 (London: Faber and Faber, 1997)</ref> Deportation continued into the late 1950s, as reported by ] newspaper in 1959: "The army's desert patrols would turn up in the midst of a Bedouin encampment day after day, dispersing it with a sudden burst of machine-gun fire until the sons of the desert were broken and, gathering what little was left of their belongings, led their camels in long silent strings into the heart of the Sinai desert."<ref>Haaretz article cited in: Rebecca Manski.; News from Within, March 2007</ref> In 1951, the ] reported the deportation of about 7,000 Negev Bedouin to Jordan, the ] and Sinai, but many returned undetected.<ref>Cook, Jonathan. BEDOUIN "TRANSFER". MERIP. May 10, 2003. Retrieved July 4th, 07.</ref> The new government failed to issue the Bedouin identity cards until 1952 and deported thousands of Bedouin who remained within the new borders.<ref>], A Land Without People: Israel, Transfer and the Palestinians, 1949-1996 (London: Faber and Faber, 1997)</ref> Deportation continued into the late 1950s, as reported by ] newspaper in 1959: "The army's desert patrols would turn up in the midst of a Bedouin encampment day after day, dispersing it with a sudden burst of machine-gun fire until the sons of the desert were broken and, gathering what little was left of their belongings, led their camels in long silent strings into the heart of the Sinai desert."<ref>Haaretz article cited in: Rebecca Manski.; News from Within, March 2007</ref>


===Nationalization of land=== ==Nationalization of land==
Israel’s land policy was adapted to a large extent from the Ottoman land regulations of 1858. According to the 1858 Ottoman Land Law, lands that were not registered as of private ownership, were considered state lands. But Bedouins were not motivated to register lands they lived on, because land ownership meant additional responsibilities for them, including taxation and military duty, and it created a new problem since they found it hard to prove their ownership rights. Israel relied mainly on ] recordings. Most of the Bedouin land fell under the Ottoman class of 'non-workable' (mawat) land and thus belonged to the state under Ottoman law. Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands, using The Land Rights Settlement Ordinance from 1969.<ref name = Kurt/><ref name=Fridman>{{cite web|url=http://www.localeconomyseminar.net/?p=88|author=Dor Fridman|title=About the Negev Bedouins|publisher=LocalEconomySeminar}}</ref><ref name="TobiFenster">(Hebrew) Dr. Tobi Fenster, A summary stance paper on Bedouin land issues, written for "Sikkuy - for equal opportunity"</ref> Israel’s land policy was adapted to a large extent from the Ottoman land regulations of 1858. According to the 1858 Ottoman Land Law, lands that were not registered as of private ownership, were considered state lands. But Bedouins were not motivated to register lands they lived on, because land ownership meant additional responsibilities for them, including taxation and military duty, and it created a new problem since they found it hard to prove their ownership rights. Israel relied mainly on ] recordings. Most of the Bedouin land fell under the Ottoman class of 'non-workable' (mawat) land and thus belonged to the state under Ottoman law. Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands, using The Land Rights Settlement Ordinance from 1969.<ref name = Kurt/><ref name=Fridman>{{cite web|url=http://www.localeconomyseminar.net/?p=88|author=Dor Fridman|title=About the Negev Bedouins|publisher=LocalEconomySeminar}}</ref><ref name="TobiFenster">(Hebrew) Dr. Tobi Fenster, A summary stance paper on Bedouin land issues, written for "Sikkuy - for equal opportunity"</ref>


===Re-location=== ==Relocation==
Israel's policies regarding the Negev Bedouin at first included regulation and re-location. During the 1950s Israel has re-located two-thirds of the Negev Bedouins into an area that was under a martial law.<ref name="Fridman" /> Bedouin tribes were concentrated in the ''Siyagh'' (Arabic for "the permitted area") triangle of ], ] and ].<ref name="manski1">Rebecca Manski.; ''News from Within", Summer 2006</ref> Israel's policies regarding the Negev Bedouin at first included regulation and re-location. During the 1950s Israel has re-located two-thirds of the Negev Bedouins into an area that was under a martial law.<ref name="Fridman" /> Bedouin tribes were concentrated in the ''Siyagh'' (Arabic for "the permitted area") triangle of ], ] and ].<ref name="manski1">Rebecca Manski.; ''News from Within", Summer 2006</ref>
] (2012)]] ] (2012)]]
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Despite state hegemony over the Negev, the Bedouin regarded 600,000 ] (600 sq km or about 150,000 acres) of the Negev as theirs, and later petitioned the government for their return.<ref></ref> Various claims committees were established to make legal arrangements to solve land disputes at least partially, but no proposals acceptable to both sides were approved.<ref name=TobiFenster /> In the 1950s, as a consequence of losing access to their lands, many Bedouin men sought work on Jewish farms in the Negev.<ref name = Kurt/> However, preference was given to Jewish labor, and as of 1958, employment in the Bedouin male population was less than 3.5%.<ref name="Kurt" /> Despite state hegemony over the Negev, the Bedouin regarded 600,000 ] (600 sq km or about 150,000 acres) of the Negev as theirs, and later petitioned the government for their return.<ref></ref> Various claims committees were established to make legal arrangements to solve land disputes at least partially, but no proposals acceptable to both sides were approved.<ref name=TobiFenster /> In the 1950s, as a consequence of losing access to their lands, many Bedouin men sought work on Jewish farms in the Negev.<ref name = Kurt/> However, preference was given to Jewish labor, and as of 1958, employment in the Bedouin male population was less than 3.5%.<ref name="Kurt" />


IDF Chief ] was in favor of transfer the Bedouin to the center of the country in order to eliminate land claims and create a cadre of urban laborers. <ref name=Swirski/> In 1963, he told ]:<ref></ref>
In the late 1950s, several proposals were considered to settle the Bedouin in the Siyag region in an area reduced to a minimum.

IDF Chief ] wanted to transfer all of them to the center of the country in order to get rid of land claims, turn them into urban laborers and free the whole Siyag.<ref name=Swirski/> In 1963, he told ]:<ref></ref>
<blockquote>"We should transform the Bedouin into an urban ] - in industry, services, construction, and agriculture. 88% of the Israeli population are not ]s, let the Bedouin be like them. Indeed, this will be a radical move which means that the Bedouin would not live on his land with his herds, but would become an urban person who comes home in the afternoon and puts his slippers on. His children will get used to a father who wears pants, without a dagger, and who does not pick out their nits in public. They will go to school, their hair combed and parted. This will be a revolution, but it can be achieved in two generations. Without coercion but with governmental direction ... this phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear."</blockquote> <blockquote>"We should transform the Bedouin into an urban ] - in industry, services, construction, and agriculture. 88% of the Israeli population are not ]s, let the Bedouin be like them. Indeed, this will be a radical move which means that the Bedouin would not live on his land with his herds, but would become an urban person who comes home in the afternoon and puts his slippers on. His children will get used to a father who wears pants, without a dagger, and who does not pick out their nits in public. They will go to school, their hair combed and parted. This will be a revolution, but it can be achieved in two generations. Without coercion but with governmental direction ... this phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear."</blockquote>
Ben-Gurion supported this idea, but the Bedouin strongly opposed. Later, the proposal was withdrawn. Ben-Gurion supported this idea, but the Bedouin strongly opposed. Later, the proposal was withdrawn.
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Within a few years, half of the Bedouin population moved into the seven townships built for them by the Israeli government. Within a few years, half of the Bedouin population moved into the seven townships built for them by the Israeli government.


The largest Bedouin locality in Israel is the city of ], it was established in 1971. Other towns include ] (Tel Sheva) (established in 1969), ] (Segev Shalom) in 1979, ] (Ar'ara BaNegev) and ] in 1982, ] in 1985 and ] in 1989.<ref name=Swirski/><ref name=autogenerated4>Rebecca Manski. ; Life and Environment, 2006 (translation from Hebrew)</ref><ref name=autogenerated9>].; MERIP, May 10, 2003</ref> The largest Bedouin locality in Israel is the city of ], established in 1971. Other towns include ] (Tel Sheva) (established in 1969), ] (Segev Shalom) in 1979, ] (Ar'ara BaNegev) and ] in 1982, ] in 1985 and ] in 1989.<ref name=Swirski/><ref name=autogenerated4>Rebecca Manski. ; Life and Environment, 2006 (translation from Hebrew)</ref><ref name=autogenerated9>].; MERIP, May 10, 2003</ref>


Those who moved into these townships were mainly the Bedouin with no land claims, so they didn't have that imperative to remain on their land.<ref name='hrw' /> Those who moved into these townships were mainly the Bedouin with no land claims. <ref name='hrw' />


According to ]'s Negev Center for Regional Development, the towns were built without an urban policy framework, lacking business districts or industrial zones;<ref name="lithwick1">Harvey Lithwick, Ismael Abu Saad, Kathleen Abu-Saad, Merkaz HaNegev LeFitu'ah Ezori and Merkaz LeHeker HaHevra HaBeduit VeHitpathuta (Israel). "A Preliminary Evaluation of the Negev Bedouin Experience of Urbanization: Findings of the Urban Household Survey"; Negev Center for Regional Development, 2004</ref> as Harvey Lithwick of the Negev Center for Regional Development explains: "...the major failure was a lack of an economic rationale for the towns..."<ref>Harvey Lithwick, "An Urban Development Strategy for the Negev's Bedouin Community", The Center for Bedouin Studies and Development, Ben Gurion University (2000)</ref> According to Lithwick, and Ismael and Kathleen Abu Saad of ], the towns quickly became among the most deprived towns in Israel, severely lacking in services such as ] and ]s.<ref name="AbuSaad"/> The urban townships were plagued by endemic joblessness and resulting cycles of crime and drug trafficking.<ref name="lithwick1" /> According to ]'s Negev Center for Regional Development, the towns were built without an urban policy framework, business districts or industrial zones;<ref name="lithwick1">Harvey Lithwick, Ismael Abu Saad, Kathleen Abu-Saad, Merkaz HaNegev LeFitu'ah Ezori and Merkaz LeHeker HaHevra HaBeduit VeHitpathuta (Israel). "A Preliminary Evaluation of the Negev Bedouin Experience of Urbanization: Findings of the Urban Household Survey"; Negev Center for Regional Development, 2004</ref> as Harvey Lithwick of the Negev Center for Regional Development explains: "...the major failure was a lack of an economic rationale for the towns..."<ref>Harvey Lithwick, "An Urban Development Strategy for the Negev's Bedouin Community", The Center for Bedouin Studies and Development, Ben Gurion University (2000)</ref> According to Lithwick, and Ismael and Kathleen Abu Saad of Ben Gurion University, the towns quickly became among the most deprived towns in Israel, severely lacking in services such as ] and ]s.<ref name="AbuSaad"/> The urban townships were plagued by endemic joblessness and resulting cycles of crime and drug trafficking.<ref name="lithwick1" />


==Unrecognized villages== ==Unrecognized villages==
Those Bedouin who resisted sedentarization and urban life remained in their old scattered villages. There are some 39-45 villages which are not recognized by the Israeli government and are thus ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash-pickup.<ref name='hrw'>; Human Rights Watch, March 2008 Volume 20, No. 5(E). Whole report: </ref> Those Bedouin who resisted sedentarization and urban life remained in their old scattered villages. In 2007, 39-45 villages were not recognized by the state and were thus ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash-pickup.<ref name='hrw'>; Human Rights Watch, March 2008 Volume 20, No. 5(E). Whole report: </ref>


According to a 2007 report of the Israel Land Authority, 40% of the population was living in unrecognized villages,<ref name="MMI"></ref>Many insist on remaining in unrecognized villages in the hope of retaining their traditions and customs; these are rural villages, some of which pre-date Israel.<ref name=Bedouin/> However in 1984, the courts ruled that the Negev Bedouin had no land ownership claims, effectively illegalizing their existing settlements.<ref name=autogenerated12 /> The Israeli government defines these rural Bedouin villages as "dispersals" while the international community refers to them as "]". Few of the Bedouin in unrecognized villages have seen the urban townships as a desirable form of settlement.<ref>Jonathan Cook.; Al-Ahram Weekly, 26 Aug-1 Sep 2004</ref><ref name="McGreal">Chris McGreal.; ''The Guardian,'' Thursday February 27, 2003</ref> Extreme unemployment has afflicted unrecognized villages as well, breeding extreme crime levels. Sources of income such as grazing have been severely restricted and the Bedouin rarely receive permits to engage in self-subsistence agriculture, although the ILA has leased on a yearly-basis JNF-owned land in ] Valley (Wadi Shallala) to Bedouin.<ref>Aref Abu-Rabia. ''The Negev Bedouin and Livestock Rearing: Social, Economic, and Political Aspects,'' Oxford, 1994, pp. 28, 36, 38</ref>
According to the Israel Land Authority (as of 2007), 40% of the Bedouin lived in unrecognized villages,<ref name="MMI"></ref> although the ] (RCUV) refer to Bedouin in unrecognized villages as half the Negev Bedouin population. The RCUV figures include the five villages which remain unrecognized despite incorporation into the ].{{Citation needed|date=August 2012}}


To attract the Bedouin to the planned settlements, the land is offered for very attractive prices.<ref></ref>
Many insist on remaining in unrecognized villages in the hope of retaining their traditions and customs; these are rural villages, some of which pre-date Israel.<ref name=Bedouin/> However in 1984, the courts ruled that the Negev Bedouin had no land ownership claims, effectively illegalizing their existing settlements.<ref name=autogenerated12 /> The Israeli government defines these rural Bedouin villages as "dispersals" while the international community refers to them as "]". Few of the Bedouin in unrecognized villages have seen the urban townships as a desirable form of settlement.<ref>Jonathan Cook.; Al-Ahram Weekly, 26 Aug-1 Sep 2004</ref><ref name="McGreal">Chris McGreal.; ''The Guardian,'' Thursday February 27, 2003</ref> Extreme unemployment has afflicted unrecognized villages as well, breeding extreme crime levels. Since sources of income such as grazing has been severely restricted, and the Bedouin rarely receive permits to engage in self-subsistence agriculture,<ref>Aref Abu-Rabia. ''The Negev Bedouin and Livestock Rearing: Social, Economic, and Political Aspects,'' Oxford, 1994, pp. 28, 36, 38 (in a rare move, the ILA has leased on a yearly-basis JNF-owned land in ] Valley (Wadi Shallala) to Bedouin)</ref> they are doing it at their own risk.

Many of the Bedouin villages were created in the 1950s when the Israeli army resettled Bedouin from the Sinai desert. Construction in them was carried out sporadically, without any centralized planning, so, for example, no place was left for the community objects, such as schools, clinics or community centers. These villages do not appear on official Israeli maps, and lack basic services like water, electricity and schools. Building permanent structures and farming is prohibited although many do, risking fines and home demolition.<ref name=Bedouin/>

===State treatment of unrecognized villages===
Israeli government uses different means in order to attract the Bedouin into the planned settlements. It offers land lots at very attractive prices on the one hand,<ref>In ] an 800 square meters land lot costs 60-65 thousand shekels ($15-16 thousand) for clan members or 22 thousand shekels ($5.5 thousand) for a demobilized soldier. </ref> and as an extreme measure - following the court order and all the legal procedure - demolishes houses built illegally on state lands and in rare cases even sprays toxic pesticides onto crops<ref>Devorah Brous March 2004</ref> planted illegally in inappropriate places. This is done in order to implement law and order in the Negev, as well as to build new settlements there, both for Jews and for the Bedouin, and improve life conditions of the Bedouin by moving them to townships with a developed infrastructure.
]]] ]]]
Today, several unrecognized villages are in the process of recognition. They have been incorporated into the ] created for the purpose of dealing with specific problems of the Bedouin. But most so far remain without water, electricity and garbage services, although there is a certain improvement - for example, in ] two brand new schools were built and a medical clinic was open since 2004 when it was recognized. But the process is mired in urban planning difficulties and ] problems.<ref name="(hebrew) Knesset protocols regarding the unrecognized villages">http://www.knesset.gov.il/protocols/data/rtf/pnim/2006-12-04.rtf</ref> Due to the lack of municipal waste services and trash pickup, backyard burning has been adopted on a large scale, impacted badly on public health and the environment.<ref>Yaakov Garb and Ilana Meallam.; ''Women and Environments'' Fall/Winter 2008</ref> Today, several unrecognized villages are in the process of recognition. They have been incorporated into the ] created for the purpose of dealing with specific problems of the Bedouin. In ] two new schools were built and a medical clinic has been opened since its recognition in 2004. Development has been hampered, however, by urban planning difficulties and ] problems.<ref name="(hebrew) Knesset protocols regarding the unrecognized villages">http://www.knesset.gov.il/protocols/data/rtf/pnim/2006-12-04.rtf</ref> Due to the lack of municipal waste services and trash pickup, backyard burning has been adopted on a large scale, impacted badly on public health and the environment.<ref>Yaakov Garb and Ilana Meallam.; ''Women and Environments'' Fall/Winter 2008</ref>
] high school in the Negev]] ] high school in the Negev]]
Israel refuses to recognize these localities for several reasons. The main reason is the planning issue - the state would like to see the Bedouin living in the ], like ] and ]. But most of the unrecognized villages are dispersed far apart and are situated in unsuitable places - f.e. military fire zones, ]s, ]s, etc.

Bedouins file numerous land claims, ignoring the situation on the place. Negev Bedouin claim the ownership of land totaling some 600,000 ]s (60,000 ]s or 230 square ]s) - it is 12 times the size of ].<ref name="MMI" /> ILA officials state that it's physically impossible to approve all of these land claims because it will have a negative impact on all the local population and make it impossible to build and improve the infrastructure. In order to accept all these claims the state would have to give up on constructing industrial zones, ecological parks, highways and railroads that serve all the population of Israel, including the Bedouin.


These land ownership claims reach the court, but rarely can the Bedouin supply enough evidence to prove ownership since land lots they claim have never been registered in the ], which is the only official way to register them. For example, in one of the most famous cases of ] land ownership dispute, judge Sarah Dovrat has ruled in favor of the State, saying that the land was not "assigned to the plaintiffs, nor held by them under conditions required by law," and that they still had to "prove their rights to the land by proof of its registration in the ]".<ref></ref><ref>Jerusalem Post, "Court rejects 6 Bedouin Negev land lawsuits", March 19, 2012. </ref> Negev Bedouin claim the ownership of land totaling some 600,000 ]s (60,000 ]s or 230 square ]s) - it is 12 times the size of ].<ref name="MMI" /> When land ownership claims reach the court, few Bedouin can supply enough evidence to prove ownership since land lots they claim have never been registered in the ], which is the only official way to register them. For example, in the ] land ownership dispute, judge Sarah Dovrat has ruled in favor of the State, saying that the land was not "assigned to the plaintiffs, nor held by them under conditions required by law," and that they still had to "prove their rights to the land by proof of its registration in the Tabu."<ref></ref><ref>Jerusalem Post, "Court rejects 6 Bedouin Negev land lawsuits", March 19, 2012. </ref>


Nevertheless, the state eventually wants to recognize the maximal possible number of these unrecognized settlements and build infrastructure in them. On September 29, 2003 Israeli ] has adapted a new "Abu Basma Plan" (Resolution 881), according to which a new regional council was formed, unifying a number of unrecognized Bedouin settlements - ].<ref> The Jerusalem Post, 24 December 2007</ref> This resolution also regarded the need to establish seven new Bedouin settlements in the Negev,<ref> Abraham Fund Initiative</ref> literally meaning the official recognition of unrecognized settlements, providing them with a municipal status and consequently with all the basic services and infrastructure. The council was established by the ] on 28 January 2004.<ref name=MJB> Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, 28 June 2005</ref> On September 29, 2003, the government adopted the new "Abu Basma Plan" (Resolution 881), calling for a new regional council to unify unrecognized Bedouin settlements, the ].<ref> The Jerusalem Post, 24 December 2007</ref> This resolution provided for the establishment of seven Bedouin townships in the Negev,<ref> Abraham Fund Initiative</ref> and recognizing previously unrecognized villages, which would be granted municipal status and consequently all basic services and infrastructure. The council was established by the ] on 28 January 2004.<ref name=MJB> Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, 28 June 2005</ref>


Moreover, Israel is currently building or enlarging some 13 towns and cities in the Negev.<ref name="MMI" /> According to the general planning, all of them will be fully equipped with the relevant infrastructure: schools, medical clinics, postal offices, etc. and they also will have electricity, running water and waste control. Several new industrial zones are planned, some are already being constructed, like ] on the suburbs of Rahat.<ref></ref> It will have a hospital and a new campus inside.<ref>Itamar Eichner, , ynet, April 1, 2012</ref> In 2012, 13 Bedouin towns and cities were being built or expanded.<ref name="MMI"/> Several new industrial zones are planned, such as ] on the suburbs of Rahat.<ref></ref> It will have a hospital and a new campus inside.<ref>Itamar Eichner, , ynet, April 1, 2012</ref>


==The Prawer plan== ==Prawer plan==
In September 2011, the Israeli government approved a five-year ] plan called the ].<ref name="Prawer">, PMO official site, September 11, 2012</ref> One of its implications is a relocation of some 30.000-40.000 Negev Bedouin from areas not recognized by the government to government-approved ]s.<ref>Al Jazeera, 13 September 2011, </ref><ref>Guardian, 3 November 2011, </ref> In September 2011, the Israeli government approved a five-year ] plan called the ].<ref name="Prawer">, PMO official site, September 11, 2012</ref> One of its implications is a relocation of some 30.000-40.000 Negev Bedouin from areas not recognized by the government to government-approved ]s.<ref>Al Jazeera, 13 September 2011, </ref><ref>Guardian, 3 November 2011, </ref>


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Critics say the Prawer Plan will turn Bedouin dispossession into law<ref>, Alternative news, January 2, 2012</ref><ref>Neve Gordon, , Al Jazeera, April 3, 2012</ref> and come to a conclusion that relocation of the Bedouin will be compelled. Some even speak about ethnic cleansing.<ref>David Sheen, , ], November 11</ref> As a result, these remarks provoked heavy criticism of the plan by the European Parliament.<ref>Haaretz, 8 July 2012, </ref> Critics say the Prawer Plan will turn Bedouin dispossession into law<ref>, Alternative news, January 2, 2012</ref><ref>Neve Gordon, , Al Jazeera, April 3, 2012</ref> and come to a conclusion that relocation of the Bedouin will be compelled. Some even speak about ethnic cleansing.<ref>David Sheen, , ], November 11</ref> As a result, these remarks provoked heavy criticism of the plan by the European Parliament.<ref>Haaretz, 8 July 2012, </ref>
==Today==
The Bedouin of ] clan have moved into a township built for them, ]. The Bedouin of al-] clan will take part in the planning of a new quarter that will be erected for them to west of ] township, cooperating with The Authority for the Regulation of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev.<ref>Yanir Yagna, (Hebrew), ], July 1, 2012</ref>


There are several examples: after a number of complicated agreements with the state all of the Bedouin of ] clan moved into a township built for them - ]. Following negotiations, the Bedouin of al-] clan will take part in the planning of a new quarter that will be erected for them to west of ] township, cooperating with The Authority for the Regulation of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev.<ref>Yanir Yagna, (Hebrew), ], July 1, 2012</ref>

==Present day==
A shift from ] to permanent settlement (which for most happened a century ago) involves trade-offs between change in life-style and improvements in material well being and health. Settlement is followed by the change of lifestyle, culture and mentality. For the Bedouin sedentarization is even more painful since tradition plays a very important role in their community. A change in lifestyle is accompanied by many different problems: a rise of poverty, crime, unemployment. But there is also a positive effect - Bedouins receive an access to the modern healthcare, education, besides, women's status is starting to improve.
] ]
According to a ] report from 2002, the Bedouin townships were built with minimal investment, and infrastructure in the seven townships had not improved much in the span of three decades. In 2002, most homes were not connected to the sewage system, the water supply was erratic and the roads were not adequate.<ref name=autogenerated7>Or Nir. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 10, 2002</ref> These lessons were learned and new policies are starting to be implemented in the last decade, the Israeli government has allocated special funds to improve the wellbeing of the Bedouin of the Negev. In 2003-2004 a number of unrecognized Bedouin villages was recognized by the state, and their infrastructure is being upgraded.


According to a ] report from 2002, the Bedouin townships were built with minimal investment, and infrastructure in the seven townships had not improved much in the span of three decades. In 2002, most homes were not connected to the sewage system, the water supply was erratic and the roads were not adequate.<ref name=autogenerated7>Or Nir. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 10, 2002</ref> Lessons were learned and new policies have been implemented since then, with the Israeli government allocating special funds to improve the wellbeing of the Negev Bedouin.
According to the ] (as of 2007),<ref name="MMI" /> Israel is currently building some 13 new villages and towns for the Negev Bedouin with brand new infrastructure. The seven planned Bedouin townships are being expanded, the largest among them is South Rahat - in accordance with the plan, the city of ] will double its size, half a billion shekels invested only in this project.<ref> (Hebrew), ], September 26, 2011</ref> This project is carrying on. Several new industrial zones meant to improve the employment situation in the Bedouin sector, ] the largest among them, are being erected. In 2008, a railway station opened near the largest Bedouin town in the Negev, ] (]), a noticeable improvement to the transportation situation. From 2009 there are Galim buses operating inside Rahat.

In 2008, a railway station opened near the largest Bedouin town in the Negev, ] (]), improving the transportation situation. Since 2009, Galim buses have been operating in Rahat.


===Healthcare=== ==Healthcare==
The Bedouin benefited from the introduction of modern health care in the region.<ref name="Kurt" /> According to the ], although in the 1980s, as compared with 90% of the Jewish population, only 50% of the Bedouin population was covered by ], the situation improved after the ] incorporated another 30% of Negev Bedouin into the Sick Fund.<ref name=autogenerated3>Suzanna Kokkonen. ; World Zionist Organization Hagshama Department, October 31, 2002</ref> There are branches of several health funds (medical clinics) operating in the seven Bedouin townships: ], Clalit, ] and ] (baby care) centers Tipat Halav. The Bedouin benefited from the introduction of modern health care in the region.<ref name="Kurt" /> According to the ], although in the 1980s, as compared with 90% of the Jewish population, only 50% of the Bedouin population was covered by ], the situation improved after the ] incorporated another 30% of Negev Bedouin into the Sick Fund.<ref name=autogenerated3>Suzanna Kokkonen. ; World Zionist Organization Hagshama Department, October 31, 2002</ref> There are branches of several health funds (medical clinics) operating in the seven Bedouin townships: ], Clalit, ] and ] (baby care) centers Tipat Halav.
]]] ]]]
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In urban townships, access to water is also an issue: an article from the World Zionist Organization Hagshama Department explains that water allocation to Bedouin towns is 25-50% of that to Jewish towns.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> Since the State has not built water infrastructure in the unrecognized villages, residents must buy water and store it in large tanks where fungi, bacteria and rust develop very quickly in the plastic containers or metal tanks under conditions of extreme heat; this has led to numerous infections and skin diseases.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> In urban townships, access to water is also an issue: an article from the World Zionist Organization Hagshama Department explains that water allocation to Bedouin towns is 25-50% of that to Jewish towns.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> Since the State has not built water infrastructure in the unrecognized villages, residents must buy water and store it in large tanks where fungi, bacteria and rust develop very quickly in the plastic containers or metal tanks under conditions of extreme heat; this has led to numerous infections and skin diseases.<ref name=autogenerated5 />


===Education=== ==Education==
David Ben-Gurion, who spend the last years of his life in a Negev kibbutz ], once said regarding the Bedouin of the Negev: "Our ancestors lived in tents too. I wish for nothing more than that our neighbours strive for and acquire the best: knowledge".<ref>Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea, , ], July 20, 2012</ref> David Ben-Gurion, who spend the last years of his life in a Negev kibbutz ], once said regarding the Bedouin of the Negev: "Our ancestors lived in tents too. I wish for nothing more than that our neighbours strive for and acquire the best: knowledge".<ref>Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea, , ], July 20, 2012</ref>


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A few years ago the Association of Academics for the Development of Arab Society in the Negev (AHD) has established a new science high school at the Shoket Junction. This school hosts some 380 students in grades nine through twelve from Bedouin Arab towns and villages. First students graduated it in the spring of 2012.<ref>, August 15, 2011</ref> A few years ago the Association of Academics for the Development of Arab Society in the Negev (AHD) has established a new science high school at the Shoket Junction. This school hosts some 380 students in grades nine through twelve from Bedouin Arab towns and villages. First students graduated it in the spring of 2012.<ref>, August 15, 2011</ref>


===Women's status=== ==Women's status==
According to a range of studies, including a 2001 study by the Centre for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion at ], in the transition from self-subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry to a settled semi-urban lifestyle, women have lost their traditional sources of power within the family. The study explains that poor access to education among women has triggered new disparities between Bedouin men and women and compounded the loss of Bedouin women's status in the family.<ref>J. Cwikel and N. Barak, Health and Welfare of Bedouin Women in the Negev, The Centre for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion, Ben Gurion University, 2001</ref> Nevertheless, due to high levels of poverty among the Bedouin more and more Bedouin women are starting to work outside their homes and reinforce their status. According to a range of studies, including a 2001 study by the Centre for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion at ], in the transition from self-subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry to a settled semi-urban lifestyle, women have lost their traditional sources of power within the family. The study explains that poor access to education among women has triggered new disparities between Bedouin men and women and compounded the loss of Bedouin women's status in the family.<ref>J. Cwikel and N. Barak, Health and Welfare of Bedouin Women in the Negev, The Centre for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion, Ben Gurion University, 2001</ref> Nevertheless, due to high levels of poverty among the Bedouin more and more Bedouin women are starting to work outside their homes and reinforce their status.


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The State of Israel is erecting new ] by providing new job opportunities for the Negev Bedouin. There are industrial parks in ], ] and some other places. A new industrial zone ] is being constructed (August 2012) to the east of Rahat, close to Lehavim road junction. The State of Israel is erecting new ] by providing new job opportunities for the Negev Bedouin. There are industrial parks in ], ] and some other places. A new industrial zone ] is being constructed (August 2012) to the east of Rahat, close to Lehavim road junction.


===Crime=== ==Crime==
The crime rate in the Bedouin sector in the Negev is among the highest in the country.<ref>Phoebe Greenwood, , ], May 9, 2012</ref> To that end, a special police unit, codenamed ''Blimat Herum'' (''lit.'' emergency halt), consisting of about 100 regular policemen, was founded in 2003 to fight crime in the sector. The Southern District of the ] cited the rising crime rate in the sector as the reason for the unit's inauguration. The unit was founded after a period of time when regular police units conducted raids on Bedouin settlements to stop theft (especially car theft) and drug dealing.<ref name="ynet-herum">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2810919,00.html|title=Please Meet: The Police Unit for Fighting Crime in the Bedouin Sector}}</ref> In 2004 a new police station was opened in Rahat, it has around 70 staff policemen. The crime rate in the Bedouin sector in the Negev is among the highest in the country.<ref>Phoebe Greenwood, , ], May 9, 2012</ref> To that end, a special police unit, codenamed ''Blimat Herum'' (''lit.'' emergency halt), consisting of about 100 regular policemen, was founded in 2003 to fight crime in the sector. The Southern District of the ] cited the rising crime rate in the sector as the reason for the unit's inauguration. The unit was founded after a period of time when regular police units conducted raids on Bedouin settlements to stop theft (especially car theft) and drug dealing.<ref name="ynet-herum">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2810919,00.html|title=Please Meet: The Police Unit for Fighting Crime in the Bedouin Sector}}</ref> In 2004 a new police station was opened in Rahat, it has around 70 staff policemen.


===Environmental issues=== ==Environmental issues==
] park]] ] park]]
In 1979, a 1,500 square kilometer area in the Negev was declared a protected ], rendering it out of bounds for Bedouin herders. In conjunction with this move the ], a law compliance unit was established that disbanded 900 Bedouin encampments and cut goat herds by more than a third. With the black goat nearly extinct, black goat hair to weave tents is hard to come by.<ref>Ghazi Falah. “How Israel Controls the Bedouin in Israel,” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. XIV, No. 1, p.44; Institute for Palestine Studies and Kuwait University, 1984</ref> In 1979, a 1,500 square kilometer area in the Negev was declared a protected ], rendering it out of bounds for Bedouin herders. In conjunction with this move the ], a law compliance unit was established that disbanded 900 Bedouin encampments and cut goat herds by more than a third. With the black goat nearly extinct, black goat hair to weave tents is hard to come by.<ref>Ghazi Falah. “How Israel Controls the Bedouin in Israel,” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. XIV, No. 1, p.44; Institute for Palestine Studies and Kuwait University, 1984</ref>
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Their outfit is also different from that of other Arabs, since the men wear long ']' and a 'smagg' (red white draped headcover) or 'aymemma' (white headcover) or a white small headdress, sometimes held in place by an 'agall' (a black cord). Bedouin women usually wear brightly coloured long dresses but outside they wear ']' (a thin, long black coat sometimes covered with shiny embroidery) and they will always cover their head and hair with a 'tarha' (a black, thin shawl) when they leave their house.<ref></ref> Their outfit is also different from that of other Arabs, since the men wear long ']' and a 'smagg' (red white draped headcover) or 'aymemma' (white headcover) or a white small headdress, sometimes held in place by an 'agall' (a black cord). Bedouin women usually wear brightly coloured long dresses but outside they wear ']' (a thin, long black coat sometimes covered with shiny embroidery) and they will always cover their head and hair with a 'tarha' (a black, thin shawl) when they leave their house.<ref></ref>


===Attitude towards Israel=== ==Attitude towards Israel==
Each year, between 5%-10% of the Bedouin of draft age volunteer for the ], (unlike ], and ] Israelis, they are not required by law to do so<ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2024.html?countryName=Israel&countryCode=is&regionCode=me&#is</ref><ref>{{he icon}} </ref>). In August 2012 ], head of Israel’s Bedouin Improvement Program Staff, estimated that half a percentage of eligible Bedouins head to the army.<ref name="autogenerated13"/> Many serve as trackers in the ]'s elite tracking units, tasked with securing the border from infiltration. About 1,600 are currently active duty servicemen, two-thirds of whom come from the north.<ref>http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2013/04/24/Bedouin-army-trackers-scale-Israel-social-ladder-.html</ref> Each year, between 5%-10% of the Bedouin of draft age volunteer for the ], (unlike ], and ] Israelis, they are not required by law to do so<ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2024.html?countryName=Israel&countryCode=is&regionCode=me&#is</ref><ref>{{he icon}} </ref>). In August 2012 ], head of Israel’s Bedouin Improvement Program Staff, estimated that half a percentage of eligible Bedouins head to the army.<ref name="autogenerated13"/> Many serve as trackers in the ]'s elite tracking units, tasked with securing the border from infiltration. About 1,600 are currently active duty servicemen, two-thirds of whom come from the north.<ref>http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2013/04/24/Bedouin-army-trackers-scale-Israel-social-ladder-.html</ref>
], Israeli vice consul]] ], Israeli vice consul]]
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{{quote|''I am a proud Israeli – along with many other non-Jewish Israelis such as Druze, Bahai, Bedouin, Christians and Muslims, who live in one of the most culturally diversified societies and the only true democracy in the Middle East. Like America, Israeli society is far from perfect, but let us deals honestly. By any yardstick you choose—educational opportunity, economic development, women and gay's rights, freedom of speech and assembly, legislative representation—Israel's minorities fare far better than any other country in the Middle East''.<ref>San Francisco Chronicle, March 2009</ref>}} {{quote|''I am a proud Israeli – along with many other non-Jewish Israelis such as Druze, Bahai, Bedouin, Christians and Muslims, who live in one of the most culturally diversified societies and the only true democracy in the Middle East. Like America, Israeli society is far from perfect, but let us deals honestly. By any yardstick you choose—educational opportunity, economic development, women and gay's rights, freedom of speech and assembly, legislative representation—Israel's minorities fare far better than any other country in the Middle East''.<ref>San Francisco Chronicle, March 2009</ref>}}


===Relationship with Palestinians=== ==Relationship with Palestinians==
Before 1948 the relationships between Negev Bedouin and the farmers to the north was marked by intrinsic cultural differences as well as common language and some common traditions. Whereas the Bedouin referred to themselves as "arab" instead of "bedû" (Bedouin), farmers in the area ] (farmers) used the term ''Bedû,'' meaning "inhabitants of the desert" (Bâdiya), more often.<ref name=autogenerated8>Cédric Parizot. ; Bulletin du Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem, 2001.</ref> As a matter of fact, some Palestinians don’t consider the Bedouin to be Palestinian, and many Bedouin don’t consider themselves Palestinian, either.<ref>Mya Guarnieri, , The Alternative Information Center (AIC), February 9, 2012</ref> Before 1948 the relationships between Negev Bedouin and the farmers to the north was marked by intrinsic cultural differences as well as common language and some common traditions. Whereas the Bedouin referred to themselves as "arab" instead of "bedû" (Bedouin), farmers in the area ] (farmers) used the term ''Bedû,'' meaning "inhabitants of the desert" (Bâdiya), more often.<ref name=autogenerated8>Cédric Parizot. ; Bulletin du Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem, 2001.</ref> As a matter of fact, some Palestinians don’t consider the Bedouin to be Palestinian, and many Bedouin don’t consider themselves Palestinian, either.<ref>Mya Guarnieri, , The Alternative Information Center (AIC), February 9, 2012</ref>



Revision as of 13:49, 6 June 2013

Ethnic group
Negev Bedouin
بدو النقب
הבדואים בנגב
A Bedouin man and camel in Negev
Total population
160,000
Regions with significant populations
 Israel,  Egypt
Languages
Arabic (mainly Bedouin dialect, also Egyptian and Palestinian), Hebrew (Modern Israeli)
Religion
Islam

The Negev Bedouin (Template:Lang-ar, Badū an-Naqab; Template:Lang-he Habeduim Banegev) are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab tribes living in the Negev region in Israel.

From the end of the Ottoman rule, a process of sedentarization was imposed on the Negev Bedouin which accelerated after the founding of the State of Israel. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, most resettled in neighbouring regions. Between 1968 and 1989, Israel built seven townships in the northeast of the Negev for the Bedouin population, with about half of them relocating to these areas. Others remained in unrecognized villages built without planning which lacked basic services such as electricity and running water. The Israeli government has gradually recognized some of them and taken measures to improve infrastructure and basic services.

Estimated to number some 170,000, out of 250,000 Israeli Bedouin (2012), they comprise 12% of the Arab citizenry of Israel. Twelve percent of Israel's total population lives in the Negev, and Negev Bedouin constitute approximately 25% percent of that number.

Demographic features

Goats grazing in the township of Tel Sheva

Negev Bedouin are formerly nomadic and later also semi-nomadic Arabs who live by rearing livestock in the deserts of southern Israel. The community is traditional and conservative, with a well-defined value system that directs and monitors behaviour and interpersonal relations.

The Negev Bedouin tribes have been divided into three classes, according to their origin: descendants of ancient Arabian nomads (originated from the Arabian peninsula, mainly from Saudi Arabia), descendants of Sinai Bedouin tribes, Palestinian peasants (Fellaheen) who came from cultivated areas. Al-Tarabin tribe is the largest tribe in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula, Al-Tarabin long with Al-Tayaha, and Al-Azazma are the largest tribes in the Negev.

Counter to the image of the Bedouin as fierce stateless nomads roving the entire region, by the turn of the 20th century, much of the Bedouin population in Palestine was settled, semi-nomadic, and engaged in agriculture according to an intricate system of land ownership, grazing rights, and water access.

Today, many Bedouin call themselves 'Negev Arabs' rather than 'Bedouin', explaining that 'Bedouin' identity is intimately tied in with a pastoral nomadic way of life – a way of life they say is over. Although the Bedouin in Israel continue to be perceived as nomads, today all of them are fully sedentarized, and about half are urbanites.

Nevertheless, Negev Bedouin continue to possess sheep and goats: In 2000 the Ministry of Agriculture estimated that the Negev Bedouin owned 200,000 head of sheep and 5,000 of goats, while Bedouin estimates referred to 230,000 sheep and 20,000 goats.

History

Antiquity

Traditional Bedouin camel race in the northern Negev near Arad, Israel

Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing. They also earned income by transporting goods and people across the desert. Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly. The first recorded nomadic settlement in Sinai dates back 4,000-7,000 years. The Bedouin of the Sinai peninsula migrated to and from the Negev.

The Bedouin established very few permanent settlements; however, some evidence remains of traditional baika buildings, seasonal dwellings for the rainy season when they would stop to engage in farming. Cemeteries known as "nawamis" dating to the late fourth millennium B.C. have been also found. Similarly, open-air mosques (without a roof) dating from the early Islamic period are common and still in use. The Bedouin conducted extensive farming on plots scattered throughout the Negev.

During the 6th century, Emperor Justinian sent Wallachian and Bosnian slaves to the Sinai to build Saint Catherine's Monastery. Over time these slaves converted to Islam, and adopted an Arab Bedouin lifestyle.

Islamic era

In the 7th century, the Islamic Umayyad dynasty defeated the Byzantine armies, conquering Palestine. The Umayyads began sponsoring building programs throughout Palestine, a region in close proximity to the dynastic capital in Damascus, and the Bedouin flourished. However, this activity decreased after the capital was move to Baghdad during the subsequent Abbasid reign.

Ottoman era

Most of the Negev Bedouin tribes migrated to the Negev from the Arabian Desert, Transjordan, Egypt, and the Sinai from the 18th century onwards. Traditional Bedouin lifestyle began to change after the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. The rise of the puritanical Wahhabi sect forced them to reduce their raiding of caravans. Instead, the Bedouin acquired a monopoly on guiding pilgrim caravans to Mecca, as well as selling them provisions. The opening of the Suez canal reduced the dependence on desert caravans and attracted the Bedouin to newly formed settlements that sprung up along the canal.

Bedouin sedentarization begun under Ottoman rule following the need in establishing law and order in the Negev - the Ottoman Empire viewed the Bedouins as a threat to the state's control. In 1858 when a new Ottoman Land Law was issued that offered the legal grounds for the displacement of the Bedouin. Under the Tanzimat reforms instituted as the Ottoman Empire gradually lost power, the Ottoman Land Law of 1858 instituted an unprecedented land registration process which was also meant to boost the empire's tax base. Few Bedouin opted to register their lands with the Ottoman Tapu, due to lack of enforcement by the Ottomans, illiteracy, refusal to pay taxes and lack of relevance of written documentation of ownership to the Bedouin way of life at that time.

At the end of the 19th century Sultan Abdülhamid II undertook other measures in order to control the Bedouin. As a part of this policy he settled loyal Muslim populations (Circassians) from the Balkan and Caucuses among the areas predominantly populated by the nomads, and also created several permanent Bedouin settlements, although the majority of them did not remain. In 1900 an urban administrative center of Beersheva was established in order to extend governmental control over the area.

Another measure initiated by the Ottoman authorities was the private acquisition of large plots of state land offered by the sultan to the absentee landowners (effendis). Numerous tenants were brought in order to cultivate the newly acquired lands.

And the main trend of settling non-Bedouin population in the Palestine remained until the last days of the empire. By the 20th century much of the Bedouin population was settled, semi-nomadic, and engaged in agriculture according to an intricate system of land ownership, grazing rights, and water access.

During World War I, the Negev Bedouin fought with the Turks against the British, but later withdrew from the conflict. Hamad Pasha al-Sufi (died 1923), Sheikh of the Nijmat sub-tribe of the Tarabin, led a force of 1,500 men which joined the Turkish offensive against the Suez Canal.

British mandate era

The British Mandate in Palestine brought order to the Negev; however, this order was accompanied by losses in sources of income and poverty among the Bedouin. The Bedouin nevertheless retained their lifestyle, and a 1927 report describes them as the "untamed denizens of the Arabian deserts." The British also established the first formal schools for the Bedouin.

In Orientalist historiography, the Negev Bedouin have been described as remaining largely unaffected by changes in the outside world until recently. Their society was often considered a "world without time." Recent scholars have challenged the notion of the Bedouin as 'fossilized,' or 'stagnant' reflections of an unchanging desert culture. Emanuel Marx has shown that Bedouin were engaged in a constantly dynamic reciprocal relation with urban centers. Bedouin scholar Michael Meeker explains that "the city was to be found in their midst."

The British Mandate authorities, laws and bureaucracy favored settled groups above pastoral nomads and they found it hard to fit in the Negev Bedouin into their system of governance, thus the Mandate's policy regarding the Bedouin tribes of Palestine was often of an ad-hoc nature.

But eventually, as had happened with the Ottoman authorities, the British turned to coercion. Several regulations were issued, such as the Bedouin Control Ordinance (1942), meant to provide the administration with "special powers of control of nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes with the object of persuading them towards a more settled way of life". The ample powers of the Ordinance empowered the District Commissioner to direct the Bedouin "to go to, or not go to, or to remain in any specified area".

Mandatory land policies created legal and demographic pressures for sedentarization, and by the end of the British Mandate the majority of the Bedouin were settled. They built some 60 new villages and dispersed settlements, populated by 27,500 people in 1945, according to the Mandate authorities. The only exception were the Negev Bedouin who remained semi-nomadic, but it was clear that sooner or later they will be settled, too.

1948 war

Prior to the founding of the State of Israel, the Negev’s population consisted almost entirely of 70,000 Bedouin.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Nahum Sarig, the Palmach commander in the Negev, instructed his officers that "Our job is to appear before the Arabs as a ruling force which functions forcefully but with justice and fairness". With the provisions that they avoid harming women, children and friendly Arabs the orders stated that shepherds grazing on Jewish land should be driven off by gun-fire, that searches of Arab settlements be conducted "politely but firmly" and "you are permitted to execute any man found in possession of a weapon".

Bedouin tent near Rahat, 1950s

During the war, most Negev Bedouin favoured the Arab side of the conflict and thus fled or were expelled to surrounding areas. In March 1948 Bedouin and semi-Bedouin communities begun to leave their homes and encampments in response to Palmach retaliation raids following attacks on water-pipelines to Jewish settlements. On 16 August 1948 the Negev Brigade launched a full-scale clearing operation in the Kaufakha-Al Muharraqa area dispersing and expelling villagers and Bedouin for "military reasons". At the end of September the Yiftach Brigade launched an operation west of Mishmar Hanegev expelling Arabs and confiscating their livestock. In early 1949 the Israeli army moved thousands of Bedouin from south and west of Beersheba to a concentration zone east of the town. In November 1949, 500 families were expelled across the border into Jordan and on September 2, 1950 some 4,000 Bedouin were forced across the border with Egypt.

Of the approximately 70,000 Bedouin who lived in the area before the war about 11,000-18,000 remained. Most had relocated from the northwestern to the northeastern Negev

State of Israel

The first Israeli government headed by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion opposed the return of the Bedouin from Jordan and Egypt. At first he wanted to expel the few remaining Bedouin but changed his mind. The lands were nationalized and the area was declared a military zone. The government saw the Negev as a potential home for the masses of Jewish immigrants, including 700,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands. In the following years, some 50 Jewish settlements were established in the Negev.

The Bedouin who remained in the Negev belonged to the Tiaha confederation as well as some smaller groups such as the 'Azazme and the Jahalin. They were relocated by the Israeli government in the 1950s and 1960s to a restricted zone in the northeast corner of the Negev, called the Siyagh (Template:Lang-ar Template:Lang-he, an Arabic word that can be translated as the "permitted area") made up of relatively infertile land in 10% of the Negev desert in the northeast.

In 1951, the United Nations reported the deportation of about 7,000 Negev Bedouin to Jordan, the Gaza Strip and Sinai, but many returned undetected. The new government failed to issue the Bedouin identity cards until 1952 and deported thousands of Bedouin who remained within the new borders. Deportation continued into the late 1950s, as reported by Haaretz newspaper in 1959: "The army's desert patrols would turn up in the midst of a Bedouin encampment day after day, dispersing it with a sudden burst of machine-gun fire until the sons of the desert were broken and, gathering what little was left of their belongings, led their camels in long silent strings into the heart of the Sinai desert."

Nationalization of land

Israel’s land policy was adapted to a large extent from the Ottoman land regulations of 1858. According to the 1858 Ottoman Land Law, lands that were not registered as of private ownership, were considered state lands. But Bedouins were not motivated to register lands they lived on, because land ownership meant additional responsibilities for them, including taxation and military duty, and it created a new problem since they found it hard to prove their ownership rights. Israel relied mainly on Tabu recordings. Most of the Bedouin land fell under the Ottoman class of 'non-workable' (mawat) land and thus belonged to the state under Ottoman law. Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands, using The Land Rights Settlement Ordinance from 1969.

Relocation

Israel's policies regarding the Negev Bedouin at first included regulation and re-location. During the 1950s Israel has re-located two-thirds of the Negev Bedouins into an area that was under a martial law. Bedouin tribes were concentrated in the Siyagh (Arabic for "the permitted area") triangle of Beer Sheva, Arad and Dimona.

Camels grazing near Rahat (2012)

At the same time Bedouin herding was restricted by land expropriation. The Black Goat Law of 1950 curbed grazing so as to prevent land erosion, prohibiting the grazing of goats outside recognized land holdings. Because few Bedouin territorial claims were recognized, most grazing was rendered illegal. Since both Ottoman and British land registration processes had failed to reach into the Negev region before Israeli rule, and since most Bedouin preferred not to register their lands, few Bedouin possessed any documentation of their land claims. Those whose land claims were recognized found it almost impossible to keep their goats within the periphery of their newly limited range. Into the 1970s and 1980s, only a small portion of the Bedouin were able to continue to graze their goats, and instead of migrating with their goats in search of pasture, most Bedouin migrated in search of work.

Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in the Negev

Despite state hegemony over the Negev, the Bedouin regarded 600,000 dunams (600 sq km or about 150,000 acres) of the Negev as theirs, and later petitioned the government for their return. Various claims committees were established to make legal arrangements to solve land disputes at least partially, but no proposals acceptable to both sides were approved. In the 1950s, as a consequence of losing access to their lands, many Bedouin men sought work on Jewish farms in the Negev. However, preference was given to Jewish labor, and as of 1958, employment in the Bedouin male population was less than 3.5%.

IDF Chief Moshe Dayan was in favor of transfer the Bedouin to the center of the country in order to eliminate land claims and create a cadre of urban laborers. In 1963, he told Haaretz:

"We should transform the Bedouin into an urban proletariat - in industry, services, construction, and agriculture. 88% of the Israeli population are not farmers, let the Bedouin be like them. Indeed, this will be a radical move which means that the Bedouin would not live on his land with his herds, but would become an urban person who comes home in the afternoon and puts his slippers on. His children will get used to a father who wears pants, without a dagger, and who does not pick out their nits in public. They will go to school, their hair combed and parted. This will be a revolution, but it can be achieved in two generations. Without coercion but with governmental direction ... this phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear."

Ben-Gurion supported this idea, but the Bedouin strongly opposed. Later, the proposal was withdrawn.

IDF commander Yigal Allon proposed to concentrate the Bedouin in some large townships within the Siyag. This proposal resembled an earlier IDF plan, which intended to secure land suitable for settling Jews and setting up IDF bases as well as to remove the Bedouin from key Negev routes.

Israeli-built townships (1968-1989)

Between 1968 and 1989 the state established urban townships for housing of deported Bedouin tribes and promised Bedouin services in exchange for the renunciation of their ancestral land.

Hura downtown

Within a few years, half of the Bedouin population moved into the seven townships built for them by the Israeli government.

The largest Bedouin locality in Israel is the city of Rahat, established in 1971. Other towns include Tel as-Sabi (Tel Sheva) (established in 1969), Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom) in 1979, Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev) and Kuseife in 1982, Lakiya in 1985 and Hura in 1989.

Those who moved into these townships were mainly the Bedouin with no land claims.

According to Ben Gurion University's Negev Center for Regional Development, the towns were built without an urban policy framework, business districts or industrial zones; as Harvey Lithwick of the Negev Center for Regional Development explains: "...the major failure was a lack of an economic rationale for the towns..." According to Lithwick, and Ismael and Kathleen Abu Saad of Ben Gurion University, the towns quickly became among the most deprived towns in Israel, severely lacking in services such as public transport and banks. The urban townships were plagued by endemic joblessness and resulting cycles of crime and drug trafficking.

Unrecognized villages

Those Bedouin who resisted sedentarization and urban life remained in their old scattered villages. In 2007, 39-45 villages were not recognized by the state and were thus ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash-pickup.

According to a 2007 report of the Israel Land Authority, 40% of the population was living in unrecognized villages,Many insist on remaining in unrecognized villages in the hope of retaining their traditions and customs; these are rural villages, some of which pre-date Israel. However in 1984, the courts ruled that the Negev Bedouin had no land ownership claims, effectively illegalizing their existing settlements. The Israeli government defines these rural Bedouin villages as "dispersals" while the international community refers to them as "unrecognized villages". Few of the Bedouin in unrecognized villages have seen the urban townships as a desirable form of settlement. Extreme unemployment has afflicted unrecognized villages as well, breeding extreme crime levels. Sources of income such as grazing have been severely restricted and the Bedouin rarely receive permits to engage in self-subsistence agriculture, although the ILA has leased on a yearly-basis JNF-owned land in Besor Valley (Wadi Shallala) to Bedouin.

To attract the Bedouin to the planned settlements, the land is offered for very attractive prices.

A newly built school in al-Sayyid

Today, several unrecognized villages are in the process of recognition. They have been incorporated into the Abu Basma Regional Council created for the purpose of dealing with specific problems of the Bedouin. In al-Sayyid two new schools were built and a medical clinic has been opened since its recognition in 2004. Development has been hampered, however, by urban planning difficulties and land ownership problems. Due to the lack of municipal waste services and trash pickup, backyard burning has been adopted on a large scale, impacted badly on public health and the environment.

Umm Batin high school in the Negev

Negev Bedouin claim the ownership of land totaling some 600,000 dunams (60,000 hectares or 230 square miles) - it is 12 times the size of Tel Aviv. When land ownership claims reach the court, few Bedouin can supply enough evidence to prove ownership since land lots they claim have never been registered in the Tabu, which is the only official way to register them. For example, in the Al Araqeeb land ownership dispute, judge Sarah Dovrat has ruled in favor of the State, saying that the land was not "assigned to the plaintiffs, nor held by them under conditions required by law," and that they still had to "prove their rights to the land by proof of its registration in the Tabu."

On September 29, 2003, the government adopted the new "Abu Basma Plan" (Resolution 881), calling for a new regional council to unify unrecognized Bedouin settlements, the Abu Basma Regional Council. This resolution provided for the establishment of seven Bedouin townships in the Negev, and recognizing previously unrecognized villages, which would be granted municipal status and consequently all basic services and infrastructure. The council was established by the Interior Ministry on 28 January 2004.

In 2012, 13 Bedouin towns and cities were being built or expanded. Several new industrial zones are planned, such as Idan haNegev on the suburbs of Rahat. It will have a hospital and a new campus inside.

Prawer plan

In September 2011, the Israeli government approved a five-year economic development plan called the Prawer plan. One of its implications is a relocation of some 30.000-40.000 Negev Bedouin from areas not recognized by the government to government-approved townships.

The plan is based on a proposal developed by a team headed by Ehud Prawer, the head of policy planning in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). And this proposal, in its turn, is based on the recommendations of the committee chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Goldberg. Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Doron Almog was appointed as the head of the staff to implement the plan to provide status for the Bedouin communities in the Negev. Minister Benny Begin has been appointed by the cabinet to coordinate public and Bedouin population comments on the issue.

According to the PMO official press release, the plan is based on four main principles:

  1. Providing for the status of Bedouin communities in the Negev;
  2. Economic development for the Negev's Bedouin population;
  3. Resolving claims over land ownership; and
  4. Establishing a mechanism for binding, implementation and enforcement, as well as timetables.

As it is stated in the press release, "The plan is part of the Government's overall activities in developing the Negev; its goal is to bring about a better integration of Bedouin in Israeli society. The plan is also designed to significantly reduce the economic and social gaps between the Bedouin population in the Negev and Israeli society as a whole".

When the cabinet approved it, simultaneously it also approved a NIS 1.2 billion economic development program for Bedouin Negev whose main purpose is to support the Bedouin women and youth in the fields of employment since they will contribute to the increased economic growth of the entire Bedouin community. Much of the approved funds will be allocated for the development of industrial zones, establishment of employment centers and professional training. A part of the budget will be directed into fields that support employment, educational centers, infrastructure (including public structures and transportation), social affairs and residents' personal security. It is expected that all of these measures will significantly advance the employment situation among the Bedouin and improve their quality of life.

According to the Prawer plan, the present Bedouin communities will undergo a comprehensive planning process. The existing communities will be expanded, some unrecognized communities will be recognized and start to receive public services, while their infrastructure will be renewed. All these changes will be done in the framework of the Beer Sheva District masterplan. Most residents will be absorbed into the Abu Basma Regional Council. It's important to note that the nature of these future communities, whether agricultural, rural, suburban or urban will be decided in full cooperation with the local Bedouin. For those of them who are to be relocated, 2/3 of them will receive a new residence nearby.

Tirabin al-Sana's mosque (its dome taken from mosque in the previous Tarabin tribe residence place next to Omer)

The Prawer plan seeks to give an answer to numerous land claims filed by the Bedouin. It will offers significant compensation in land and funds - 50% of the claim (currently it's only 20% offered), while each claim will be dealt in a unified and transparent way provided by law.

The proposed solution will be put into binding legislation - Israeli Knesset will work out and accept appropriate legislation in the fall of 2012. Accordingly, the state will reorganize and strengthen the enforcement mechanism. Team headed by minister Benny Begin and Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Doron Almog is responsible for the implementation of this plan.

Critics say the Prawer Plan will turn Bedouin dispossession into law and come to a conclusion that relocation of the Bedouin will be compelled. Some even speak about ethnic cleansing. As a result, these remarks provoked heavy criticism of the plan by the European Parliament.

Today

The Bedouin of Tarabin clan have moved into a township built for them, Tirabin al-Sana. The Bedouin of al-'Azazme clan will take part in the planning of a new quarter that will be erected for them to west of Segev Shalom township, cooperating with The Authority for the Regulation of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev.

A private house being built in South Rahat

According to a State Comptroller report from 2002, the Bedouin townships were built with minimal investment, and infrastructure in the seven townships had not improved much in the span of three decades. In 2002, most homes were not connected to the sewage system, the water supply was erratic and the roads were not adequate. Lessons were learned and new policies have been implemented since then, with the Israeli government allocating special funds to improve the wellbeing of the Negev Bedouin.

In 2008, a railway station opened near the largest Bedouin town in the Negev, Rahat (Lehavim-Rahat Railway Station), improving the transportation situation. Since 2009, Galim buses have been operating in Rahat.

Healthcare

The Bedouin benefited from the introduction of modern health care in the region. According to the World Zionist Organization, although in the 1980s, as compared with 90% of the Jewish population, only 50% of the Bedouin population was covered by Israel's General Sick Fund, the situation improved after the 1995 National Health Insurance Law incorporated another 30% of Negev Bedouin into the Sick Fund. There are branches of several health funds (medical clinics) operating in the seven Bedouin townships: Leumit, Clalit, Maccabi and perinatal (baby care) centers Tipat Halav.

One of medical clinics in Rahat

The Bedouin infant mortality rate is still the highest in Israel, and one of the highest in the developed world. In 2010, the mortality rate of Bedouin babies rose to 13.6 per 1,000, compared to 4.1 per 1,000 in Jewish communities in the south. According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, 43 percent of deaths among infants up to a year old result from hereditary conditions and/or birth defects. Other reasons cited for the higher infant mortality rates are poverty, lack of education and proper nourishment of mothers, lack of access to preventive medical care and unwillingness to undergo recommended tests. In 2011, funding for this purpose was tripled.

A medical clinic in Hura (one of)

60% of Bedouin men smoke. Among the Bedouin, as of 2003, 7.3% of females and 9.9% of males have diabetes. Between 1998 and 2002, Bedouin towns and villages had among the highest per-capita hospitalization rates, Rahat and Tel Sheva ranked highest. However, the rate of reported new cancer incidents in Bedouin localities is very low, with Rahat having the 3rd-lowest rate in Israel at 141.9 cases per 100,000, compared to 422.1 cases in Haifa.

The Centre for Women's Health Studies and Promotion notes that in the unrecognised Bedouin villages in the Negev, very few health care facilities are available; ambulances do not serve the villages and 38 villages have no medical services. According to the Israeli NGO Physicians for Human Rights-Israel the number of doctors is a third of the norm.

In urban townships, access to water is also an issue: an article from the World Zionist Organization Hagshama Department explains that water allocation to Bedouin towns is 25-50% of that to Jewish towns. Since the State has not built water infrastructure in the unrecognized villages, residents must buy water and store it in large tanks where fungi, bacteria and rust develop very quickly in the plastic containers or metal tanks under conditions of extreme heat; this has led to numerous infections and skin diseases.

Education

David Ben-Gurion, who spend the last years of his life in a Negev kibbutz Sde Boker, once said regarding the Bedouin of the Negev: "Our ancestors lived in tents too. I wish for nothing more than that our neighbours strive for and acquire the best: knowledge".

In the 1950s, mandatory schooling was extended to the Bedouin sector, leading to a massive increase in literacy levels. Illiteracy decreased from around 95% to 25% within the span of a single generation, with the majority of the illiterate being 55 or older.

Literacy classes for Bedouin women, Lehavim

Drop-out rates were once very high among Negev Bedouin. In 1998 only 43 percent of Bedouin youngsters reached the 12th grade. Enforcement of mandatory education for the Bedouin was weak, particularly in the case of young girls. According to a 2001 study by the Centre for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion more than 75% of Bedouin women had never been to or completed elementary school. This was due to a combination of internal Bedouin traditional attitudes towards women, lack of government enforcement of the Mandatory Education Law and insufficient budgets for Bedouin schools.

However, the number of Bedouin students in Israel is on the rise. Arabic summer schools are being developed. In 2006, 162 Bedouin men and 112 Bedouin women were studying at Ben Gurion University. In particular, the number of female students grew sixfold from 1996-2001. The university offers special Bedouin scholarship programs to encourage higher education among the Bedouin.

According to data released by the Knesset Research and Information Center in July 2012, at least 800 young Bedouins from the Negev (out of overall 1300 Israeli students studying in PA) opted for universities in the Palestinian Authority, mainly Hebron and Jenin, preferring Muslim studies (Sharia) and education. It's a relatively new phenomenon, occurring in the past year or two and its main reasons are relatively difficult psychometric exams hampering to be accepted into Israeli universities and colleges (in PA there is no such a requirement), absence of Muslim studies subject in them and a language barrier.

One of eight (July 2012) Rahat schools

In fall 2011 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has revived a special program preparing Bedouins to fill a dire need in school psychologists in their communities' schools due to a host of issues particular to this population, from aged-old inter-clan rivalries to the emotional fallout from polygamy. This program is leading to a master's degree in educational psychology for Arab-Israeli and Bedouin students. Program's leaders admit that only a professional from within the society can fully understand the intricacies of its unique situations.

Additionally, a new Harvard University campus will be established in Rahat inside Idan haNegev industrial zone in the coming years. It will be the first campus built in this Bedouin city. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev will oversee the new campus' operations, and it will be considered a BGU branch.

A few years ago the Association of Academics for the Development of Arab Society in the Negev (AHD) has established a new science high school at the Shoket Junction. This school hosts some 380 students in grades nine through twelve from Bedouin Arab towns and villages. First students graduated it in the spring of 2012.

Women's status

According to a range of studies, including a 2001 study by the Centre for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion at Ben Gurion University, in the transition from self-subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry to a settled semi-urban lifestyle, women have lost their traditional sources of power within the family. The study explains that poor access to education among women has triggered new disparities between Bedouin men and women and compounded the loss of Bedouin women's status in the family. Nevertheless, due to high levels of poverty among the Bedouin more and more Bedouin women are starting to work outside their homes and reinforce their status.

There were reports that some Bedouin tribes had previously conducted female genital cutting. However, this practice was considered far less severe than what is carried out in some places in Africa, consisting of a "small" cut. The practice was carried out independently by women, and men didn't play a part and in most cases were unaware of the practice. However, by 2009 the practice seemed to have disappeared. Researchers are unclear as to how it disappeared (the Israeli government was not involved) but suggest modernisation as the probably cause.

Poverty

Bedouin citizens of Israel suffer from extreme rates of joblessness and endure the highest poverty rate in Israel. According to a 2007 Van Leer Institute study, 66 percent of Negev Bedouin as a whole lived under the poverty line (in unrecognized villages, the figure reached 80 percent), as compared with a poverty rate of 25 percent in the general Israeli population.

According to the date collected by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry in 2010, the employment rate among the Bedouin is 35 percent, the lowest of any sector in Israeli society.

Traditionally, the Bedouin men are breadwinners, while the Bedouin women are not supposed to work outside their home. As of 2012, some 81 percent of Bedouin women of working age are unemployed, but it is mainly due to conservative traditions of the Bedouin. Nevertheless, in the last years the situation is starting slowly to change - Bedouin women are driven into the work force by their families' needs. Several NGO's are fighting this phenomenon by carrying out different activities primarily aimed at Bedouin women, these organizations are supporting and expanding entrepreneurship by providing professional training and guidance. For example, twenty Arab-Bedouin women from the towns of Rahat, Lakiya, Tel Sheva, Segev Shalom, Kuseife and Rachma participated in a sewing course for fashion design at the Amal College in Beer Sheva, including lessons on sewing and cutting, personal empowerment and business initiatives. As a result, tourism and crafts are growing industries and in some cases, such as Drijat, have reduced unemployment significantly.

The State of Israel is erecting new industrial zones by providing new job opportunities for the Negev Bedouin. There are industrial parks in Rahat, Hura and some other places. A new industrial zone Idan haNegev is being constructed (August 2012) to the east of Rahat, close to Lehavim road junction.

Crime

The crime rate in the Bedouin sector in the Negev is among the highest in the country. To that end, a special police unit, codenamed Blimat Herum (lit. emergency halt), consisting of about 100 regular policemen, was founded in 2003 to fight crime in the sector. The Southern District of the Israel Police cited the rising crime rate in the sector as the reason for the unit's inauguration. The unit was founded after a period of time when regular police units conducted raids on Bedouin settlements to stop theft (especially car theft) and drug dealing. In 2004 a new police station was opened in Rahat, it has around 70 staff policemen.

Environmental issues

Rahat park

In 1979, a 1,500 square kilometer area in the Negev was declared a protected nature reserve, rendering it out of bounds for Bedouin herders. In conjunction with this move the Green Patrol, a law compliance unit was established that disbanded 900 Bedouin encampments and cut goat herds by more than a third. With the black goat nearly extinct, black goat hair to weave tents is hard to come by.

Israeli environmental leader Alon Tal claims Bedouin construction is among the top ten environmental hazards in Israel. In 2008, he wrote that the Bedouin are taking up open spaces that should be used for park land. In 2007, Bustan organization disagreed with this contention: "Regarding rural Bedouin land use as a threat to open spaces fails to take into account the fact that Bedouin occupy little more than 1% of the Negev and fails to call into question the IDF’s hegemony over more than 85% of the Negev’s open spaces." Gideon Kressel has proposed a brand of pastoralism that preserves open spaces for rangeland herding.

Wadi al-Na'am is located close to the Ramat Hovav toxic waste dump, and its residents have suffered from higher than average incidences of respiratory illnesses and cancer. Given the small scale of the country, Bedouin and Jews of the region share some 2.5% of the desert with Israel's nuclear reactors, 22 agro and petrochemical factories, an oil terminal, closed military zones, quarries, a toxic waste incinerator (Ramat Hovav), cell towers, a power plant, several airports, a prison, and 2 rivers of open sewage.

Demographics

The Bedouin comprise the youngest population in Israeli society - about 54 percent of the Bedouin population is younger than 14. With an annual growth rate of 5.5%, which is one of the highest in the world, the Bedouin in Israel double their population every 15 years. Bedouin advocates argue that the main reason for the transfer of the Bedouin into townships against their will is demographic. In 2003, Director of the Israeli Population Administration Department, Herzl Gedj, described polygamy in the Bedouin sector a "security threat" and advocated various means of reducing the Arab birth rate. In 2005 Ronald Lauder of the Jewish National Fund announced plans to bring 250-000-500,000 new settlers into the Negev through the Blueprint Negev, incurring opposition from Bedouin rights groups concerned that the unrecognized villages might be cleared to make way for Jewish-only development and potentially ignite internal civil strife.

Identity and culture

Performance of traditional Bedouin music, 2009
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz meets Bedouin community leaders, 2011

The Bedouin consider themselves Arabs with their origin being from what is today Syria, Iraq and Jordan, but mainly from Saudi Arabia. The Bedouins are seen as Arab culture’s purest representatives, "ideal" Arabs, but they are distinct from other Arab’s because of their extensive kinship networks, which provide them with community support and the basic necessities for survival.

The Negev Bedouin have been compared to the American Indians in terms of how they have been treated by the dominant cultures. The Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages describes the Negev Bedouin as an "indigenous" population. However, some researchers contest this view.

The Bedouin have their own authentic and distinct culture, rich oral poetic tradition, honor code and a code of laws. Despite the problem of illiteracy, the Bedouin attribute importance to natural events and ancestral traditions. The Bedouin of Arabia were the first converts to Islam, and it is an important part of their identity today.

Their outfit is also different from that of other Arabs, since the men wear long 'jellabiya' and a 'smagg' (red white draped headcover) or 'aymemma' (white headcover) or a white small headdress, sometimes held in place by an 'agall' (a black cord). Bedouin women usually wear brightly coloured long dresses but outside they wear 'abaya' (a thin, long black coat sometimes covered with shiny embroidery) and they will always cover their head and hair with a 'tarha' (a black, thin shawl) when they leave their house.

Attitude towards Israel

Each year, between 5%-10% of the Bedouin of draft age volunteer for the Israeli army, (unlike Druze, and Jewish Israelis, they are not required by law to do so). In August 2012 Doron Almog, head of Israel’s Bedouin Improvement Program Staff, estimated that half a percentage of eligible Bedouins head to the army. Many serve as trackers in the IDF's elite tracking units, tasked with securing the border from infiltration. About 1,600 are currently active duty servicemen, two-thirds of whom come from the north.

Ismail Khaldi, Israeli vice consul

Amos Yarkoni, first commander of the Shaked Reconnaissance Battalion in the Givati Brigade, was a Bedouin (born Abd el-Majid Hidr), although not from Negev.

A 2001 poll suggests that Bedouin feel more estranged from the state than do Arabs in the north. A Jewish Telegraphic Agency article reports that, "forty-two percent said they reject Israel's right to exist, compared with 16 percent in the non-Bedouin Arab sector." But a 2004 study found that Negev Bedouins tend to identify more as Israelis than other Arab citizens of Israel.

Ismail Khaldi is the first Bedouin vice consul of the State of Israel and the highest ranking Muslim in the Israeli foreign service. Khaldi is a strong advocate of Israel. While acknowledging that the state of Israeli Bedouin minority is not ideal, he said:

I am a proud Israeli – along with many other non-Jewish Israelis such as Druze, Bahai, Bedouin, Christians and Muslims, who live in one of the most culturally diversified societies and the only true democracy in the Middle East. Like America, Israeli society is far from perfect, but let us deals honestly. By any yardstick you choose—educational opportunity, economic development, women and gay's rights, freedom of speech and assembly, legislative representation—Israel's minorities fare far better than any other country in the Middle East.

Relationship with Palestinians

Before 1948 the relationships between Negev Bedouin and the farmers to the north was marked by intrinsic cultural differences as well as common language and some common traditions. Whereas the Bedouin referred to themselves as "arab" instead of "bedû" (Bedouin), farmers in the area "fellahîn" (farmers) used the term Bedû, meaning "inhabitants of the desert" (Bâdiya), more often. As a matter of fact, some Palestinians don’t consider the Bedouin to be Palestinian, and many Bedouin don’t consider themselves Palestinian, either.

Because of their status in Israeli society as the principal Arab population that served in the army (in addition to a portion of the Druze), Bedouin have experienced a rift with the Palestinian population on several levels. On the one hand, many Bedouin have played a role in policing borders which they themselves traditionally moved across freely, ejecting Palestinian workers sneaking into Israel, and even preventing the free movement of other Bedouin to whom they are often related. Identifying themselves with the same national terminology applied to those they have played a role in occupying presents serious moral quandaries.

Many Bedouin want to disassociate themselves from the ‘term’ Palestinian, which is associated with terrorism in Israel; already in an extremely tenuous situation, they fear that identifying themselves with Palestinians will injure their status in Israeli society and their potential to gain respect for their rights as citizens. Some scholars regard these developments as an illustration of a strategy of 'Divide to Rule'.

A 2001 study suggests that regular meetings and cross border exchanges involving Negev Bedouin and their relatives or neighbors living in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip or Sinai may be more common than expected, casting "doubt on the accepted view of relationships between the Bedouin of the Negev and their Palestinian neighbors."

According to a 2008 report of Human Rights Watch, Bedouin in Israel see themselves as a part of the larger Palestinian Arab minority, with a distinct history of a nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle.

See also

One of Rahat community centers
Private home in al-Sayyid
A private house in Tirabin al-Sana, a settlement of the Tarabin bedouin
An entrance to the Bedouin village Al-Sayyid
One of Hura's schools
Rahat city view
At the streets of Rahat
An industrial park Idan haNegev being built in close proximity to Rahat
A medical clinic in Rahat
Private home in Segev Shalom
One of two al-Sayyid schools
A view at Rahat from a new fast growing neighborhood Rahat haHadasha
Private house in al-Sayyid

References

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  125. Rhoda Kanaaneh. "Embattled Identities: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military"; Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Spring, 2003), pp. 5-20

Further reading

External links

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