THE CONTEMPORARY culture closest to our Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs is the Bedouin desert culture. Bedouins were originally defined as nomadic Arab tribes living in desert regions with their flocks. But since the mid-nineteenth century, the Bedouin have been at a crossroads in their history. In many of their former locales they have become urbanized and have lost certain ancient traditions. In Syria drought was the culprit; in Egypt it was government policy; in Libya and the Persian Gulf it was oil production and rapid industrialization on the Bedouin’s traditional grazing lands. In Israel, while the Negev Bedouin have been partially urbanized by government fiat, many still live as their forebears did. Others have relocated to the Galilee district in the north and other non-desert locales. This article is an introduction to the Bedouin way of life. The Bedouin date back thousands of years, long before Mohammed’s time. Bedouin lifestyle involved migrating with their herds in search of pasture lands, supplying their produce to the oases’ markets, raiding the settled communities and the trade caravans that crossed the desert and levying tolls from them. There was no private ownership of land as each tribe held its pastures and water sources communally. Bedouin society was characterized by a fierce loyalty to family, clan and tribe, which triggered blood feuds and demanded revenge killings. They had a rigid code of honor in which the chastity of their women was very important and which included hospitality and generosity. Bedouin in the past spent much time in raiding, hunting and war, during which they endured severe physical hardships. Today, smuggling is often a substitute for these forbidden ‘manly’ activities. "(Angelfire.com)  While the Bedouin have a rich history of folk music and dance, their greatest art is poetry describing past heroic tales. These poems have been passed down orally through the generations. Honor, part of the customary law, has a huge influence on Bedouin life. Even today, blood vengeance is practiced between feuding clans, often supplanting legal proceedings. While Bedouin tribes are now overwhelmingly Muslim, they were originally polytheistic. Later some tribes converted to Christianity and there were

even Jewish tribes. But after Mohammed’s death in the 7th century, the tribes were reunited under the banner of Islam.  Newly unified and fired up with Islamic missionary zeal combined with the traditional desire for war and treasure, the Bedouins became the nucleus of the Muslim armies that exploded westward out of the Arabian Peninsula. Not long after the death of Mohammed, a vast Muslim empire had been established in Syria, Palestine (the Land of Israel), Egypt, North Africa, Iraq and Persia.  The Bedouin were always a large percentage of the Arab population, but their numbers have declined drastically since the mid-eighteenth century. Ottoman land laws had abolished the communal land ownership that is essential for nomadic life. Later, British colonial forces exerted control over the coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula, to keep their strategic hold on India. The British became kingmakers in the region after WWI, installing regimes in Transjordan and Iraq, as well as exerting influence throughout the peninsula.  For the Bedouin, the worst changes came after the large oil discoveries in the 1930s. “The development of the oil fields by British and American firms completely changed the face of this once poor kingdom [Saudi Arabia]. The oil wealth flowing into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in the second half of the twentieth century has in one generation catapulted the desert states into the modern world, creating pressures and tensions between the old and the new. It has had a radical impact on traditional tribal Bedouin culture, endangering their survival as a distinct community in the Middle East.  (Angelfire.com). There are about 170,000 Bedouin in Israel. More than two thirds live in the Negev Desert. These Bedouin originate from the Hijaz, a region in the north of the Arabian Peninsula. Of the total Bedouin in the Negev, fewer than a tenth are Afro-Bedouin: black Bedouin descended from former slaves. As such, they are at the lowest rung of Bedouin society, with the lowest standards of living and education and the highest unemployment. The Afro-Bedouin who live in the new Bedouin city of Rahat reside in a segregated community and   are looked down upon by their fellow   Bedouin.   The birthrate among Israeli Bedouin   is one of the highest in the world. Their numbers have grown dramatically since 1949, when cease-fire lines at the end of Israel’s War of Independence became the de facto borders of the state, restricting the nomads’ ability to graze their herds.   Many Bedouin practice polygamy despite  its illegality in Israel, which has enabled the men to father many children from  several wives, thus receiving generous child allowances from state coffers. While  the Bedouin have often voluntarily served  as excellent trackers in the Israel Defense, their rate of enlistment has declined in the last decade.   Bedouin, especially in the Negev, adjacent to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, have increasingly come under the sway of radical Islam in the last decade. Nevertheless, there is a large and growing problem of lawlessness and crime among the Bedouin, which is also affecting Israelis who reside near them. A recent car theft by a Bedouin thief (on furlough from prison!) has left a policeman in critical condition after being stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver.   Israeli media have recently reported many cases of livestock rustling and theft by Bedouins of agricultural equipment from ranchers. A rancher is currently in danger of being charged with murder for the inadvertent killing of one of several   marauders who had invaded his property.   The victim, who died from a leg wound, was a convicted felon who had already been imprisoned for similar crimes.   Others, especially in the Beersheba area, have been forced to make payments to Bedouin criminals to “protect” their property and businesses. Drugs and weapons smuggling by Bedouin gangs  is also an extremely big problem in the Negev. Israeli police have been largely ineffective in combating Bedouin crime, which can be seen as an extension of the age-old Bedouin propensity for using violence as a way of earning a living.   All countries with nomadic sectors in their population have problems stemming from nomads’ lack of respect for boundaries and the laws of settlements. Countries where nomads have become increasingly urbanized and the nomadic groups are hemmed in by expanding cities and other constraints on their freedom of movement.   Israel has built many Bedouin towns in an effort to help wean the Bedouin from   their nomadic existence, with mostly poor results. Nevertheless, Bedouin are treated as well or better in Israel than they are in most Arab countries. For example, the Bedouin have access to Israel’s excellent health services. Their illiteracy rate has declined from 95% to 25%, with most of the remaining illiterate beyond school age. Perhaps, what is most significant is the achievement of actual land ownership by the Bedouin, not just “users’ rights " which are the norm in the rest of the Middle East. While the Bedouin (unsuccessfully) claim all the land where they reside, they have become the lawful owners of large swaths of it.   

See Angelfire.com and Wikipedia.com   for extensive information on Bedouin   life.