74-450: Bedoin may refer to: Bédoin , a commune in Vaucluse, France Bedouin , a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Bedoin . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
148-433: A "gift from God", they were the main food source and method of transportation for many Bedouins. In addition to their extraordinary milking potentials under harsh desert conditions, their meat was occasionally consumed by Bedouins. As a cultural tradition, camel races were organized during celebratory occasions, such as weddings or religious festivals . Some Bedouin societies live in arid regions. In areas where rainfall
222-695: 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." At the time of World War I , a Qays Bedouin tribe from Harran , not far from Urfa , settled in Lüleburgaz in East Thrace under their last Sheikh Salih Abdullah. It
296-399: A Bedouin. Ottoman authorities also initiated 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. Often it came at the expense of the Bedouin lands. In the late 19th century, many Bedouin began transition to a semi-nomadic lifestyle. One of the factors was
370-453: A centuries-long process that continuously occurred since the 7th century. The initial waves of migration from the 7th to the 10th centuries mostly involved sedentary Arabs who established communities in cities, towns and surrounding rural areas. However, the Arab migrations from the 11th to the 15th centuries involved a significant influx of a great amount of nomadic Bedouin tribes to the region. In
444-645: A hierarchy of loyalties based on the proximity of some person to oneself, beginning with the self , and proceeding through the nuclear family as defined by male kinship, and then, in principle at least, to an entire genetic or linguistic group (which is perceived as akin to kinship in the Middle East and North Africa generally). Disputes are settled, interests are pursued, and justice and order are dispensed and maintained by means of this framework, organized according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility (Andersen 14). The individual family unit (referred to as
518-507: A hundred. A clan was composed of a number of families, while a number of clans formed a tribe. Tribes would have areas reserved for their livestock called dirahs, which included wells for their exclusive use. They lived in black goat-hair tents called bayt al-shar, divided by cloth curtains into rug-floor areas for males, family and cooking. In Hofuf , they bartered their sheep, goats and camels, including milk and wool, for grain and other staples. Al-Naimi also quotes Paul Harrison's observation of
592-574: A living herding sheep and goats. The largest Bedouin clan in Syria is called Ruwallah who are part of the 'Anizzah' tribe. Another famous branch of the Anizzah tribe is the two distinct groups of Hasana and S'baa who largely arrived from the Arabian peninsula in the 18th century. Herding among the Bedouin was common until the late 1950s, when it effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961. Due to
666-530: A man from the Bani Hassan tribe, who rode continuously for over 30 hours to reach Mithqal before their plot matured. Mithqal, using the information, prepared a trap for them, which resulted in the imprisonment of one of the Sardieh warriors. William notes that although the warrior was a prisoner, he was nonchalant and was not treated aggressively, and that the ghazzu wasn't a war, but a game in which camels and goats were
740-452: A new regional council was formed, unifying a number of unrecognized Bedouin settlements— Abu Basma Regional Council . This resolution also regarded the need to establish seven new Bedouin settlements in the Negev, 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
814-514: A policy of sedentarization in the early 20th century, which was initially linked with the establishment of the Ikhwan . As a result of this policy and subsequent modernization, the number of bedouin that retain their nomadic lifestyle has decreased rapidly. According to Ali Al-Naimi , the Bedouin, or Bedu, would travel in family and tribal groups, across the Arabian Peninsula in groups of fifty to
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#1732852196826888-666: A result of the Syrian Civil War , some Bedouins became refugees and found shelter in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and other states. Palestinian Bedouins were originally from the Negev Desert . In the course of the 1948 Palestine war , they fled or were displaced from their land. Other Bedouins were expelled from the Negev in 1953 and had relocated to the West Bank , which at the time belonged to Jordan . Today, there are 40,000 Bedouins in
962-522: A speed of 40 km/h (11 m/s; 25 mph) for an hour. Camels are often controlled by child jockeys, but allegations of human rights abuses have led to nationwide bans on underage labor in the UAE and Qatar . In modern camel racing, camels are often controlled by remote controlled robotic whips . Camel racing is a centuries-old racing event, which has been practiced as a traditional Middle Eastern sport since Medieval times. It can be at least traced back to
1036-476: A system of standardizing the contemporary Classical Arabic for maximal intelligibility across the Arabophone areas, believed that the Bedouin spoke the purest, most conservative variety of the language. To solve irregularities of pronunciation, the Bedouin were asked to recite certain poems, whereafter consensus was relied on to decide the pronunciation and spelling of a given word. A plunder and massacre of
1110-457: A tent or bayt ) usually traditionally comprised three or four adults (a married couple plus siblings or parents) and any number of children. The Bedouins' ethos comprises courage, hospitality, loyalty to family and pride of ancestry. Bedouin tribes were not controlled by a central power, like a government or empire, but rather were led by tribal chiefs. Some chiefs exercised their power from oases, where merchants would organise trade through
1184-561: Is a racing sport in which jockeys riding on camels compete against each other to finish a set number of laps around a circular racetrack. It is most popular in Western Asia , North Africa , the Horn of Africa , Pakistan , Mongolia and Australia . Professional camel racing, like horse racing , is an event for betting and tourism . Camels can run at speeds up to 65 km/h (18 m/s; 40 mph) in short sprints and they can maintain
1258-576: Is a relocation of some 30.000-40.000 Negev Bedouin from areas not recognized by the government to government-approved townships . In a 2012 resolution the European Parliament called for the withdrawal of the Prawer plan and respect for the rights of the Bedouin people. In September 2014, Yair Shamir , who heads the Israeli government's ministerial committee on Bedouin resettlement arrangements, stated that
1332-414: Is inhabited by the prominent Liyathnah tribe alongside the smaller Bedul community, believed to have Jewish or Nabataean ancestry. The Jordanian government provides the Bedouin with different services such as education, housing and health clinics. However, some Bedouins give it up and prefer their traditional nomadic lifestyle. In the recent years, there is a growing discontent of the Bedouin with
1406-481: Is said that this tribe was originally from Tihamah . Ghazzu was still relevant to the Bedouin lifestyle in the early 20th century. After a 1925 stay with Sheikh Mithqal Al-Fayez of the Bani Sakher , William Seabrook wrote about his experience of a ghazzu from the Sardieh tribe on Mithqal's 500 Hejin racing camels. The ghazzu was intercepted by Mithqal when he was notified about the Sardieh tribe's intentions from
1480-618: Is the Camel Cup held at Alice Springs which is the second biggest prize purse camel race in Australia. It is held annually and includes not only the camel races themselves, but also a collection of market stalls and other entertainment. The biggest prize money camel race in Australia is "The Boulia Desert Sands" with a A$ 500,000 prize purse in Queensland. Children are often favored as jockeys because of their light weight, and in order to maximize
1554-453: Is very unpredictable, a camp will be moved irregularly, depending on the availability of green pasture. Where winter rainfall is more predictable in regions further south, some Bedouin people plant grain along their migration routes. This proves a resource for the livestock throughout the winter. In regions such as western Africa, where there is more predictable rainfall, the Bedouin practice transhumance . They plant crops near permanent homes in
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#17328521968261628-477: The Balkan and Caucasus among areas predominantly populated by the nomads in the regions of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel, and also created several permanent Bedouin settlements, although the majority of them did not remain. The settlement of non Arabs in the traditionally Bedouin areas was a big cause of discontent. This became even severe because every Arab tribe, including the settled ones, have ancestry as
1702-600: The Fertile Crescent . Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Arabaa by the Assyrians ( ar-ba-ea ), being a nisba of the noun Arab , a name still used for Bedouins today. They are referred to as the ʾAʿrāb ( أعراب ) "aɛrāb" in Arabic . While many Bedouins have abandoned their nomadic and tribal traditions for a modern urban lifestyle, others retain traditional Bedouin culture such as
1776-560: The Hashemites did not see a revolt similar to turbulence in other Arab states. The main reasons for that are the high respect to the monarch and contradictory interests of different groups of the Jordanian society. The King Abdullah II maintains his distance from the complaints by allowing blame to fall on government ministers, whom he replaces at will. The Arab migration to the Maghreb had been
1850-455: The Judean caves of Qumran in 1946. Of great religious, cultural, historical and linguistic significance, 972 texts were found over the following decade, many of which were discovered by Bedouins. Successive Israeli administrations tried to demolish Bedouins villages in the Negev. Between 1967 and 1989, Israel built seven legal townships in the north-east of the Negev, with Tel as-Sabi or Tel Sheva
1924-482: The Persian Gulf and Libya , as well as a desire for improved standards of living, effectively led most Bedouin to become settled citizens of various nations, rather than stateless nomadic herders. Governmental policies pressing the Bedouin have in some cases been executed in an attempt to provide service (schools, health care, law enforcement and so on—see Chatty 1986 for examples), but in others have been based on
1998-459: The West Bank to land outside of Jerusalem for better access to infrastructure, health, and education. Officials stated that a "forcible transfer" of over 7000 Bedouin people would "destroy their culture and livelihoods." Most of the Bedouin tribes migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to what is Jordan today between the 14th and 18th centuries. They are often referred to as a backbone of
2072-893: The Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya proclaimed its independence from the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. In retribution against the Zirids, the Fatimids dispatched large Bedouin Arab tribes, mainly the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym , to defeat the Zirids and settle in the Maghreb. These tribes followed a nomadic lifestyle and were originally from the Hejaz and Najd . They were later joined by the Bedouin tribe of Ma'qil , which had its roots in South Arabia, as well as other Arab tribes. Camel riding Camel racing
2146-456: The "tribe" as a formal unit of administration. The goal of these early reforms was to weaken local Bedouin magistrates and limit what she terms as "rural mobility", the ability of these local Bedouins to, independently of the Ottoman state, accumulate wealth through the wheat trade and other means. At the end of the 19th century, Sultan Abdülhamid II settled Muslim populations ( Circassians ) from
2220-585: The 11th century, the Bedouin tribes of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym , who originated from central and north Arabia respectively, living at the time in a desert between the Nile and the Red Sea , moved westward into the Maghreb areas and were joined by the Bedouin tribe of Ma'qil , which had its roots in South Arabia, as well as other Arab tribes. The 11th century witnessed the most significant wave of Arab migration, surpassing all previous movements. This event unfolded when
2294-534: The 1757 raid represented the peak of such attacks which was also likely prompted by the major drought of 1756. Under the Tanzimat Land reforms of 1858, a new Ottoman Land Law was issued, which offered legal grounds for the displacement of the Bedouin ( Turkish : Bedeviler). As the Ottoman Empire gradually lost power, this law instituted an unprecedented land registration process that was also meant to boost
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2368-473: The 1960s and 70s, the societies of the region underwent massive transformation, and with it, so did camel racing. Due to increased popularity and participation in the sport, races are now split into divisions and classes of race distance as well as the age and breed of the camel to standardize competitions. Numerous tracks were also constructed primarily for camel racing in the United Arab Emirates during
2442-423: The 1980s, including famous tracks Al-Wathba, near Abu Dhabi , and Nad Al-Shiba near Dubai . Both tracks have a maximum spectator capacity of around 1,000 people. Both Emirati men and women participate in the traditional camel race across various categories. For Emirati jockeys which is 6km race has been divided into two categories and according to age while the 1500m race was for expat jockeys. A major camel race
2516-464: The 7th century CE Arabian Peninsula where it was a folk sport practiced at social gatherings and festivals. Camels have held an important position in Middle Eastern societies as modes of transportation beyond racing for thousands of years, only recently replaced by automobiles in the mid-20th Century during the oil boom in the region. Historically, many camel races in the Persian Gulf region of
2590-550: The Bani Hasan (Mafraq, Zarqa, Jarash, Ajloun and parts of Amman) Bani Ṣakher (Amman and Madaba) Banū Laith (Petra), and Banū al-Ḥuwayṭāt (they reside in Wadi Rum ). There are numerous lesser groups, such as the al-Sirḥān, Banū Khālid, Hawazim, ʿAṭiyyah, and Sharafāt. The Ruwālah (Rwala) tribe, which is not indigenous, passes through Jordan in its yearly wandering from Syria to Saudi Arabia. The region encompassing Wadi Musa and Petra
2664-451: The Bedouin , Bedouin systems of justice . Livestock and herding , principally of goats, sheep and dromedary camels comprised the traditional livelihoods of Bedouins. These were used for meat, dairy products, and wool. Most of the staple foods that made up the Bedouins' diet were dairy products. Camels, in particular, had numerous cultural and functional uses. Having been regarded as
2738-611: The Bedouin, "There seems to be no limit at all to their endurance." The Syrian Desert was the original homeland of the Arab Bedouin tribes which have been mentioned as far back as the Neo-Assyrian era where they're referred to by Tiglath-Pileser III as being among the Syrians integrated into the Assyrian administrative system. Today there are over a million Bedouin living in Syria, making
2812-662: The Bedouins switched side and fought against the Ottomans. Hamad Pasha al-Sufi (died 1923), Sheikh of the Nijmat sub-tribe of the Tarabin , led a force of 1,500 men who joined the Ottoman raid on the Suez Canal . 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
2886-683: The Galilee and 10,000 in the central region of Israel. All of the Bedouins residing in Israel were granted Israeli citizenship in 1954. As of 2020, there are 210,000 Bedouins in Israel: 150,000 in the Negev, 50,000 in Galilee and the Jezreel Valley , and 10,000 in the central region of Israel. Galilee Bedouins have been living in the northern part of Israel for four centuries. Today, they live in 28 settlements in
2960-592: The Hajj caravan by Bedouin tribesmen occurred in 1757, led by Qa'dan Al - Fayez of the Bani Sakhr tribe (Modern-day Jordan) in his vengeance against the Ottomans for failing to pay his tribe for their help protecting the pilgrims. An estimated 20,000 pilgrims were either killed in the raid or died of hunger or thirst as a result including relatives of the Sultan and Musa Pasha. Although Bedouin raids on Hajj caravans were fairly common,
3034-583: The Kingdom, since Bedouin clans traditionally support the monarchy. Most of Jordan's Bedouin live in the vast wasteland that extends east from the Desert Highway. The eastern Bedouin are camel breeders and herders, while the western Bedouin herd sheep and goats. Some Bedouin in Jordan are semi-nomads, they adopt a nomadic existence during part of the year but return to their lands and homes in time to practice agriculture. The largest nomadic groups of Jordan are
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3108-427: The Middle East existed to serve the purpose of a social event and celebration rather than an intense competition. Bedouin communities often conducted short, 300 to 500 meter long races to commemorate special occasions such as weddings, religious festivals and feasts, and rainfall. When competitions occurred in past eras of camel racing, the arrangements and prizes were significantly less planned ahead than they are in
3182-697: The Persian Gulf region. Many child camel jockeys are seriously injured by falling off the camels. The child jockeys live in camps (called "ousbah") near the racetracks and many are victims of abuse. Hundreds of children have been rescued from camel farms in Oman, Qatar, and UAE and taken back to their original homes or kept in shelter homes. Many however, are unable to identify their parents or home communities in South Asia or Sudan. Some countries have issued penalties for those who trafficked child camel jockeys and ordered
3256-551: The camel farms. A prominent activist for rehabilitation and recovery of the jockeys is Pakistani lawyer Ansar Burney . He has focused a portion of his work on eliminating the use of child jockeys. The United Arab Emirates was the first to ban the use of children under 15 as jockeys in camel racing when Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the ban on 29 July 2002. In 2009 the UAE paid compensation to 879 former jockeys. While
3330-456: The camels' speed they often will fast for days at a time prior to each race. It has been reported that thousands of children (some reported as young as 2 years old) are trafficked usually from countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan for use as jockeys in Arab States of the Persian Gulf . In 2005, aid workers estimated a range of 5,000 – 40,000 child camel jockeys in
3404-668: The desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula , North Africa , the Levant , and Mesopotamia ( Iraq ). The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam . The English word bedouin comes from the Arabic badawī , which means "desert-dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ḥāḍir ,
3478-500: The desert. Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that in 1326 on the route to Gaza , the Egyptian authorities had a customs post at Qatya on the north coast of Sinai . Here Bedouin were being used to guard the road and track down those trying to cross the border without permission. The Early Medieval grammarians and scholars seeking to develop
3552-407: The deserts are still popular leisure activities for urban Bedouins who live in close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas. A widely quoted Bedouin apothegm is "I am against my brother, my brother and I are against my cousin, my cousin and I are against the stranger" sometimes quoted as "I and my brother are against my cousin, I and my cousin are against the stranger." This saying signifies
3626-552: The desire to seize land traditionally roved and controlled by the Bedouin. In recent years, some Bedouin have adopted the pastime of raising and breeding white doves , while others have rejuvenated the traditional practice of falconry . The Arabian Peninsula was one of the original homes of the Bedouin. From there, they started to spread out to surrounding deserts, forced out by the lack of water and food. According to tradition, Arabian Bedouin tribes are descendants of two groups: Qahtanis , also known as Yaman , who originate from
3700-485: The drought, many Bedouin were forced to give up herding for standard jobs. Another factor was the formal annulling of the Bedouin tribes' legal status in Syrian law in 1958, along with attempts of the ruling Ba'ath Party regime to wipe out tribalism. Preferences for customary law ('urf) in contrast to state law (qanun) have been informally acknowledged and tolerated by the state in order to avoid having its authority tested in
3774-535: 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. Some scholars, such as Nora Elizabeth Barakat, believe the displacement of the Bedouin had its roots in events even earlier than the 1858 Land Reforms, for example in an 1844 Anatolia-specific decree recognizing
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#17328521968263848-528: The first. The largest, city of Rahat , has a population of over 58,700 (as of December 2013); as such it is the largest Bedouin settlement in the world. Another well-known township out of the seven of them that the Israeli government built, is Hura . According to the Israel Land Administration (2007), some 60 per cent of the Negev Bedouin live in urban areas . The rest live in so-called unrecognized villages , which are not officially recognized by
3922-698: The government was examining ways to lower the birthrate of the Bedouin community in order to improve its standard of living. Shamir claimed that without intervention, the Bedouin population could exceed half a million by 2035. In May 2015, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees have combined forces. Both organizations called on Israel to stop its plans to relocate Bedouin communities currently living in
3996-694: The influence of the Ottoman empire authorities who started a forced sedentarization of the Bedouin living on its territory. The Ottoman authorities viewed the Bedouin as a threat to the state's control and worked hard on establishing law and order in the Negev . During the First World War , the Negev Bedouin initially fought with the Ottomans against the British . However, under the influence of British agent T. E. Lawrence ,
4070-603: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bedoin&oldid=932716571 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bedouin The Bedouin , Beduin , or Bedu ( / ˈ b ɛ d u ɪ n / ; Arabic : بَدْو , romanized : badw , singular بَدَوِي badawī ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited
4144-476: The more common forms of Arabic poetry are often in Modern Standard Arabic . The well-regulated traditional habit of Bedouin tribes of raiding other tribes, caravans, or settlements is known in Arabic as ghazw . Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing in the Syrian steppe since 6000 BCE. By about 850 BCE, a complex network of settlements and camps
4218-550: The mountains of Southwestern Arabia, and claim descent from a semi-legendary ancestral figure, Qahtan (often linked to the biblical Joktan ), and Adnanis , also known as Qays , who originate in North-Central Arabia and claimed descent from Adnan , a descendant of the Biblical Ishmael . A number of Bedouin tribes reside in Saudi Arabia. Among them are Anazzah , Juhaynah , Shammar , al-Murrah , Mahra , Dawasir , Harb , Ghamid , Mutayr , Subay' , 'Utayba , Bani khalid , Qahtan , Rashaida , and Banu Yam . Saudi Arabia pursued
4292-417: The north. They also live in mixed villages with other non-Bedouin Arabs. 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 . After 1948, some Negev Bedouins were displaced. The Jahalin tribe, for instance, lived in the Tel Arad region of the Negev prior to the 1950s. In the early 1950s, the Jahalin were among
4366-412: The number of nomadic Bedouins is shrinking and many are now settled. Prior to the 1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence , an estimated 65,000–90,000 Bedouins lived in the Negev desert. According to Encyclopedia Judaica , 15,000 Bedouin remained in the Negev after 1948; other sources put the number as low as 11,000. Another source states that in 1999 110,000 Bedouins lived in the Negev, 50,000 in
4440-411: The owners responsibilities for returning the children back to their home countries. However, they report that in many instances the children rescued were those who had been sold away by their own parents in exchange for money or a job abroad. If they were returned, the children would again be sold for the same purposes. Other children did not speak their native languages, or did not know how to live outside
4514-518: The prizes. In the 1950s and 1960s, large numbers of Bedouin throughout Midwest Asia started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to settle in the cities of Midwest Asia, especially as hot ranges shrank and populations grew. For example, in Syria , the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to abandon herding for standard jobs. Similarly, governmental policies in Egypt , Israel , Jordan , Iraq , Tunisia , oil-producing Arab states of
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#17328521968264588-420: The races today. Participants were rarely determined more than a day in advance, and usually came as the result of a challenge between camel owners. The sport had very few rules and regulations, and foul play between riders prior to races was common. Furthermore, there were no age or weight classes for camels or riders. With the immense influx of money into the Arab world as a result of the oil economy emerging in
4662-459: The ruling monarch Abdullah II of Jordan . In August 2007, police clashed with some 200 Bedouins who were blocking the main highway between Amman and the port of Aqaba. Livestock herders were protesting the government's lack of support in the face of the steeply rising cost of animal feed and expressed resentment about government assistance to refugees. Arab Spring events in 2011 led to demonstrations in Jordan, and Bedouins took part in them. But
4736-403: The state due to general planning issues and other political reasons. Despite these communities often predating the state of Israel, many are considered to be located in areas deemed unsuitable by the Israeli government, including military fire zones, natural reserves , landfills , etc. On 29 September 2003, Israeli government adapted a new "Abu Basma Plan" (Resolution 881), according to which
4810-422: The suburbs of Rahat. It will have a hospital and a new campus inside. The Bedouins of Israel receive free education and medical services from the state. They are allotted child cash benefits, which has contributed to the high birth rate among the Bedouin of 5% per year. In September 2011, the Israeli government approved a five-year economic development plan called the Prawer plan . One of its implications
4884-470: The term for sedentary people . Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky ones of the Middle East . They are sometimes traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ʿašāʾir ; عَشَائِر or qabāʾil قبائل ), and historically share a common culture of herding camels, sheep and goats. The vast majority of Bedouins adhere to Islam , although there are some fewer numbers of Christian Bedouins present in
4958-450: The territory controlled by the tribe. The structure of Bedouin tribes were held together more so by shared feelings of common ancestry rather than a tribal chief atop the hierarchy. Bedouin traditionally had strong honor codes, and traditional systems of justice dispensation in Bedouin society typically revolved around such codes. The bisha'a , or ordeal by fire, is a well-known Bedouin practice of lie detection . See also: Honor codes of
5032-525: The traditional ʿašāʾir clan structure, traditional music , poetry, dances (such as saas ), and many other cultural practices and concepts. Some urbanized Bedouins often organise cultural festivals, usually held several times a year, in which they gather with other Bedouins to partake in and learn about various Bedouin traditions—from poetry recitation and traditional sword dances to playing traditional instruments and even classes teaching traditional tent knitting. Traditions like camel riding and camping in
5106-473: The tribal territories. In 1982 the al-Assad family turned to the Bedouin tribe leaders for assistance during the Muslim Brotherhood uprising against al-Assad government (see 1982 Hama massacre ). The Bedouin sheikhs' decision to support Hafez al-Assad led to a change in attitude on the part of the government that permitted the Bedouin leadership to manage and transform critical state development efforts supporting their own status, customs and leadership. As
5180-417: The tribes that, according to Emanuel Marx , "moved or were removed by the military government". They ended up in the so-called E1 area East of Jerusalem . About 1,600 Bedouin serve as volunteers in the Israel Defense Forces , many as trackers in the IDF's elite tracking units. Famously, Bedouin shepherds were the first to discover the Dead Sea Scrolls , a collection of Jewish texts from antiquity, in
5254-432: The valleys where there is more rain and move their livestock to the highland pastures. Oral poetry is the most popular art form among Bedouins. Having a poet in one's tribe was highly regarded in society. In addition to serving as a form of art, poetry was used as a means of conveying information and social control . Bedouin poetry, also known as nabati poetry , is often recited in the vernacular dialect . In contrast,
5328-680: The whole of the West Bank, including 27,000 people under Israeli military control in Area C . Unlike Negev Bedouins , West Bank Bedouins are not Israeli citizens . Bedouin communities in the West bank have been targeted with forcible relocations to townships to accommodate the growth of illegal Israeli settlements on the outskirts of East Jerusalem . Bedouins also live in the Gaza strip , including 5,000 in Om al-Nasr . However,
5402-553: Was established by the Interior Ministry on 28 January 2004. Israel is currently building or enlarging some 13 towns and cities in the Negev. 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 meant to fight unemployment are planned, some are already being constructed, like Idan HaNegev in
5476-549: Was established. The earliest Arab tribes emerged from Bedouins. By the time of the Roman Empire's establishment, the Bedouin national identity had been established and they were recognizable as a single people with often warring "families, clans, and tribes". A major source of income for this people was the taxation of caravans, and tributes collected from non-Bedouin settlements. They also earned income by transporting goods and people in caravans pulled by domesticated camels across
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