As the outcome of the Israeli-PA (Palestinian Authority) negotiations grows bleak, the issue of permanent government funded housing for the Bedouin tribes in Israel’s Negev desert is on deck to dominate the news cycle. Anticipating a wave of anti-Israel backlash both in the media and political sphere, Regavim, the legal research and advocacy organization focused on land ownership issues in Israel, has just released a study to set a standard of truth for the pending discussions of Bedouin land claims, using aerial photography of the Northern Negev, maps and historical documentation.
The paper addresses 6 myths, which have been widely accepted as fact for decades, regarding the Bedouin communities in the Negev. The first myth is that the Bedouins are a people indigenous to the northern Negev. The report states that not only are the Bedouin a nomadic people, and therefore not indigenous by definition, they also have only lived on Negev lands for a sufficiently long enough period, cannot claim the pre-colonial sovereignty, nor spiritual connection that would establish an indigenous claim.
Myth two delves deeper into the claim of historical Bedouins villages in the area, this is debunked by aerial photography that documents the communities’ growth in recent decades and shows that there was hardly any Bedouin presence at all, prior to 1945.
The third myth addresses the 2006 OXFAM-funded map and the classification of a mere 45 unrecognized Bedouin villages. This was perhaps the easiest to demolish as anyway can open-up Google Earth/Maps to identify and see that the actual figure is over 2100 illegal villages, hamlets and outposts spread throughout the Northern Negev between Beersheva, Arad & Dimona.
The fourth myth, that Bedouin tribes have been neglected by the State in terms of building rights, is invalidated by the documented establishment of government-funded legal Bedouin towns that remain largely unpopulated because of tribal disputes and conflicting land claims.
The fifth myth states that government budgets discriminate against Bedouins, when in actuality, Israeli tax budgets statistically favor Bedouins, despite the unusually low amount of taxes paid by the Bedouin sector.
The study’s sixth myth breaks down the Bedouins’ seemingly modest claim to just 5% of Negev lands. However, 80% of the Negev is inhospitable or restricted for use, the Bedouins actually lay claim to 23% of area allocated for settlement and agriculture. There are no other communities in Israel that make private ownership claims over such a large area, making these claims far from modest.
“The public has accepted these wide-spread myths as truth,” said Regavim Director Ari Briggs. “By releasing this white paper, we have demolished decades of false mantras repeated ad-nauseam with the sole purpose of defaming and demonizing the Jewish State.”
Regavim, a research think-tank and advocacy organization, is dedicated to ensuring responsible, legal and accountable use of Israel’s national land. By investigating claims on the ground level, Regavim protects national land interests, presenting its findings in the form of white papers and legal action, in addition to briefing the press and diplomatic corps.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
regavim, is it also a myth that Negev Bedouins have the highest percentage of semitic dna of any group on the planet?
is it also a myth that “jews” have only 16% j1 ydna and 80% European mtdna?
so…. in reality they’re jews and your nuts.
ari briggs i think your mothers a “myth”, maybe you should hand one of those beduin’s your house, job and wife and go try your luck at sales in Christian books.
1. It makes no sense to antagonize the Beduoin since they are among the few Muslims who are supporting Israel. One should be nice to your friends.
2. The nature of their land claim is perhaps similar to that of someone in a rent stabilized apartment – you don’t own it but you have rights. It’s similar in legal terms to an easement or prescription. Arguing someone who didn’t have the equivalent of a common law fee simple absolute is meaning in a feudal landholding system in which you rights rather than absolute land.
3. The Beduoin have been around the area for ages. They are quite indigenous to the region. The Beduoin basically have an historic right to set up semi-nomadic (meaning semi-permanent) settlements in a wide region. By denying that the Israelis make themselves look heartless (especially as it is their allies they are dispossessing from). It should be noted that in Britain when they replaced feudal rights with modern property rights, they often needed troops to “remove” the former non-owners with rights that were being cancelled (many of whom became Americans and got even in 1776).
#1 — can you please cite a reference to your “facts”?
#2 — There are Bedouins that have been caught fighting and passing along information about Israeli army deployments to Hizballah. They’re not all friends. Regarding your comment “The Beduoin (sic) have been around the area for ages”, that is in dispute. Can you prove that they have been in the Negev more than 200+ years?
“not only are the Bedouin a nomadic people, and therefore not indigenous by definition”
This statement is a chilul HaShem. The Bedouin were documented in Ottoman censuses in the 16th century and were probably around long before then!
Unlike most other Arabs around the Land of Israel, most of the Bedouin were quite happy to accept a Jewish state and many have served in the IDF, fighting against other Arabs. This report shows no hakarat hatov. And this is not the first time that Israel has stabbed Arab supporters in the back — remember how Israel abandoned the South Lebanese Army. Why should Arabs ever accept a Jewish presence, much less a Jewish state, when we act like this?
#2 akuperma & #4 charliehall-
Actually none of the current Bedouin tribes in Israel today were there during the Ottoman days, the Ottomans kept censuses about tribes, and these are all late comers around 1880 or later. So they are not indigenous
Also only 35% of them fought with Israel in 1948 and only 45% identify as pro-Israel 55% support the Palestinians. Also is did not abandon the SLA, they were forced to by the UN and USA
Also to the ranter in the #1 slot, you have no clue what you are saying and are very ignorant in how DNA, how your babble got past the moderators I will never know, maybe they’re still drunk from the seuda
YWN,
You post joeb and kveens yid’s comments but you don’t allow me to defend my arguments?
there are more serious problems than letting me speak.