The spatial pattern of Bedouin Sedentarization in Israel

Abstract

The bedouin in Israel form a small group (13%) within the state's Arab minority, and they completed their transition stage towards settled habits in the middle of the present century with the establishment of a relatively high number of villages and hamlets. It is the object of this paper to examine and define the nature of these patterns of rural settlements, which emerged in the two distinctive areas of Galilee and the Negev. The discussion in this paper is confined to the period of the state of Israel (1948–83), when changes in both the processes and the patterns of bedouin sedentarization took place under entirely new political conditions. After the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948, both Galilee and Negev bedouin sedentarization was completed within a period of a single decade (1950–60). However, the sedentarization pattern has further evolved during the past two decades and is likely to continue to do so until the end of the present century. In the Israeli period, the pattern of bedouin sedentarization has developed in two distinct directions. First, the bedouin themselves have built permanent structures for residential purposes, a process usually referred to as ‘spontaneous bedouin settlement’. Secondly, the state authorities have planned and established settlements. In this ‘planned bedouin settlement’, the state has been dominant in shaping the pattern. It is important to note that most bedouin settlement in Israel belong in the first category where the whole tribe or individual groups were the initiators of their settlements. This paper which was written by an author who belongs to the bedouin community, is based mostly upon fresh evidence from field research data, and is the first attempt to indicate the importance of the role of the state in shaping the settlement pattern. It is hoped to contribute to the study of nomadism as well as to the study of the Arabs in Israel.