Negev Bedouins

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The Negev Bedouins (Arabic: Badawit an-Naqab) are traditionally pastoral semi-nomadic Arab tribes indigenous to the Negev region, who hold close ties to the Bedouins of the Sinai. The forced alteration of their traditional lifestyle has led to sedentarization. The population of Negev Bedouins in what is today Israel is estimated to be 160,000.^[1]

Contents 1 Definition 2 Prior to 1948 3 After 1948, under Israeli administration 4 Lifestyle 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Definition

Arabs العرب
Ibn al-Haytham • Abd-ar-Rahman III • Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi • Averroes May Ziade • Philip the Arab • Gamal Abdel Nasser • Fairuz
Total population
approx. 350 to 422 million[2]
Regions with significant populations
Middle East (Mashriq · Arabian Peninsula) Northern Africa (Maghreb · Egypt)
Languages
Arabic, Mehri[3][4]
Religions
Mostly Islam; minorities include Christianity, Druze among others
Related ethnic groups
Other Semitic peoples

In the strictest sense, the Bedouin are defined as Arab nomads, who live by rearing livestock in the deserts of southern Israel. However, the English term has come to cover a more general meaning. The Negev Bedouin community consists of numerous indigenous tribes, who used to be nomadic/semi-nomadic. The community is traditional and conservative, with a well-defined value system that directs and monitors behaviour and interpersonal relations.^[5]

The Negev Bedouin tribes have been divided into three classes, according to their origin:

• those who are the descendents of ancient Arabian nomads,
• the peasants (Fellaheen), who came from cultivated areas,
• and those originally brought from Africa as slaves.^[6]

[edit] Prior to 1948

Historically, the Bedouin engaged primarily in nomadic herding, agriculture, raiding and sometimes fishing. They also made income by transporting goods and people^[7] across the desert.^[8]

The first recorded settlement of Bedouins in the Negev/Naqab Desert dates back 7,000 years.^[8] The Bedouins of the Sinai peninsula migrated to and from the Negev repeatedly throughout their history. Similar migrations took place under early Islamic rule.^[9] During the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian sent Wallachian and Bosnian slaves to the Sinai to build the Saint Catherine's Monastery. Over time these slaves converted to Islam, and adopted an Arab Bedouin lifestyle.^[8]

In the seventh 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 Bedouins flourished. However, this activity decreased after the capital was move to Baghdad during the subsequent Abbasid reign.^[10]

The first major European impact on the traditional Bedouin lifestyle came after the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. The rise of the puritanical Wahabbi sect also forced them to reduce raiding caravans. Instead, the Bedouins 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, thus limiting the Bedouins' income, while attracting them to newly formed settlements that sprung up along the canal.^[8]

During the World War I, the Bedouins in the Naqab Desert fought with the Turks against the British, but later withdrew from the conflict. 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 Bedouins. The Bedouins nevertheless retained their lifestyle, and a 1927 report describes them as the "untamed denizens of the Arabian deserts".^[8] The British also established the first formal schools for the Bedouin.^[5]

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".^[11] Recent scholars have challenged the notion of the Bedouin as 'fossilized,' or 'stagnant' reflections of an unchanging desert culture. In fact 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."^[12]

[edit] After 1948, under Israeli administration

Main article: Bedouin

(See section on Changing Ways of Life)

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the vast majority of the Bedouins in the Naqab region fled or were expelled to Egypt or Jordan. Of the 65,750 that existed before the war about 11,000 remained. Those who remained belonged to the Tiaha confederation^[13] and were relocated by the Israeli government the 1950s and 1960s to a reservation in the northeast corner of the Negev, called the "siyag" (closure) made up of relatively infertile land in the northeastern Negev comprising 10% of the Negev desert.^[14] As of 1951, the United Nations reported the expulsion of about 7,000 Negev Bedouins into neighbouring Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. Many, however, returned undetected.^[15]

Between 1940 and 1966, the Bedouin, like other Arabs, were placed under military administration by Israel.^[6] During this time they were restricted to reservations, despite meager subsistence levels. As Jewish immigration increased, unemployment levels in the Bedouin population reached record highs. As of 1958, employment in the Bedouin male population was less than 3.5%. Bedouins were generally discriminated against in employment, as preference was given to Jews.^[11]

During this period, Israel also enforced mandatory schooling upon Bedouin children. As a result there was a general rise in literacy levels. The Bedouins also benefited from the introduction of modern techniques of health care in the region.^[11]

Around half the population live in seven towns built for them by the Israeli government between 1979 and 1982. The largest Bedouin locality in Israel is the city of Rahat. Other towns include Ar'arat an-Naqab (Arara BeNegev), Bir Hadaj, Hura, Kuseife, Lakiya, Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom) and Tel as-Sabi (Tel Sheva). Today, several towns are in the process of 'recognition' meaning that they will not be transferred out of their villages against their will. However, none of these villages, recently incorporated into the Abu Basma Regional Council have received any services from the government - they remain without the water, electricity and garbage services accorded all other citizens of Israel in recognized cities.

The other half of Bedouin citizens of Israel live in 45 villages considered illegal by the Israeli government. The Israeli government refuses to connect citizens of these villages to the electrical grid or water mains, and do not extend municipal trash-pickup to the unrecognized villages. (Many of these villages afre located adjacent to regional electrical and water stations but are denied access). Longstanding government plans to demolish the 45 ‘unrecognized’ villages, remove the Bedouin inhabitants, and concentrate them in seven planned towns, were resuscitated under the Sharon administration. During his time, the ‘Removal of Intruders Law’ was given new teeth in conjunction with a budget for military forces devoted to demolition and removal campaigns. [2]

Today there are around 120,000 Bedouins living in the Negev, though the number is increasing fast; at 5.5%, their birthrate is amongst the highest in the world.^[16] In 2003, Director of the Israeli Population Administration Department, Herzl Gadge, described polygamy in the Bedouin sector a “security threat” and advocated various means of reducing the Arab birth rate. With an annual growth rate of 5%, there will be 320,000 Bedouin in the Negev by 2020. The Jewish National Fund's Blueprint Negev aimed at settling over 250,000 Jewish 'Anglos' in the desert by 2010, was introduced in 2005 as a way of combatting the 'existential threat' to Israel's demographic Jewish majority that the Bedouin are perceived to pose.^[17]

The legendary Israeli soldier, Amos Yarkoni, first commander of the Shaked Reconnaissance Battalion in the Givati Brigade, was a Bedouin (born Abd el-Majid Hidr). Despite their uniquely high numbers in the Israeli Defense Forces over the decades, the percentage of Bedouin in the army fell drastically after October 2000. It is believed that reduced willingness to join the IDF is due to the fact that despite their service in the army over half are denied access to water, electricity, and trash pickup, and are denied the right to build roads to make schools and hospitals accessible. Furthermore, quite commonly, Bedouin soldiers from unrecognized villages return home after reserve duty to find their homes demolished. ^[18]

[edit] Lifestyle

Main article: Bedouin

(See section on Changing Ways of Life)

The Bedouins of the Negev traditionally survived on sheep and goat husbandry. Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly. The Bedouin established very few permanent settlements, however some Bedouin did in fact build in the Negev; some evidence remains of traditional baika buildings, seasonal dwellings for the rainy season when Bedouin would stop to engage in farming. Cemeteries known as "nawamis" dating to the late fourth millennium B.C. have been also found recently. Similarly, open air mosques (i.e. those without a roof), dating from the early Islamic period, are common and still in use.^[19] The Bedouins also conducted extensive farming on plots scattered throughout the Negev. They held this semi-nomadic lifestyle up until the existence of Israel.^[13]

After the establishment of Israel, the Bedouin almost completely ceased to move around with their herds, as a result of the state confiscating their lands.^[5] Under Israeli administration, the Bedouin are mostly confined to the northeast corner of the Negev, called the "Siyaj". As a consequence, many Bedouin men emigrated to the newly established Jewish farms in the Negev in search of employment. However, they were not allowed to bring their families with them. Another major source of employment were regional mines and the Ramat Hovav toxic waste facility and its factories, all very hazardous occupations.

Half the Bedouin population lives in cities. Bedouin settlements are amongst the most deprived in Israel, and are severely lacking in services such as public transport and banks. The rest of the 76,000 continue to live in tens of "unrecognized villages," some of which predate the existence of Israel.^[14] Many of these villages were created in the 1950's when the Israeli army resettled Bedouin from the Sinai desert. These villages do not appear on any Israeli maps, and are denied basic services like water, electricity and schools. It is forbidden by the Israeli authorities for the residents of these villages to build permanent structures, though many do, risking fines and home demolition.^[14] Several, including Wadi al-Na'am, are located close to the Ramat Hovav toxic waste dump, and residents have suffered from higher than average incidences of respiratory illnesses and cancer.^[20] The Israeli government frequently demolishes homes and sprays toxic pesticides onto crops in the unrecognized villages, including one episode where Bedouin homes were demolished to make way for the establishment of a Jewish town.^[21] The latter demolition was the beginning of the implementation of "Blueprint Negev".

There have been some economic successes; tourism and crafts are growing industries and have helped the village of Drijat to reduce its unemployment to zero, and Arabic summer schools are being developed.^[22] Each year, between 5%-10% of the Bedouin population of draft age volunteer for the Israeli army, (unlike Druze, and Circassian Israelis they are not required by law to do so).^[23] Many of the Bedouin are not satisfied with the new way of life imposed upon them, and still conform to old traditions and customs.^[5]

[edit] See also

• Bedouins
• Tuba-Zangariyye
• Arab citizens of Israel
• Negev desert
• Transhumance

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Israel's forgotten bedouins. BBC News.
• On Africans in the Negev Desert
• Bustan - the foremost Israeli organization working for sustainability and human rights for the Bedouin.
• "Stop Blueprint Negev"on Neohasid.org.