The Bedouin in the Negev

The Bedouin people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Negev desert, and claim descent from the ancient Nabateans, who ruled this desert region more than two thousand years ago. Since that time, the Bedouin population has been residing in the region in semi-nomadic communities, depending primarily on their livestock as a means of survival, and developing a culture distinct from other Palestinian communities in the North. This community has, for its entire existence, retained a high degree of self-reliance and autonomy.

"Bedouin" is a social class of Arab society, defined by a distinct dialect of Arabic, and a way of life that is separate from those who traditionally lived in stone houses and were farmers, and those who lived in major cities. These three social divisions, city-slicker, villager, and Bedouin, in Arabic Madany, Felahi, and Bedu, respectively, exist in almost all Arab societies. All three are defined by distinct dialectic variations of the regional Arabic, and a native Arabic speaker can tell immediately which class a person is from based on their speech.

In the past, the Bedouin in the Negev were semi-nomadic. They followed their flocks and lived in tents that could be taken down and moved from location to location during the fertile season. This is the image most people have of the Bedouin in their minds, desert nomads riding camels in the desert. In the Negev, this nomadism stopped almost 150 years ago, and the Bedouin settled in semi-permanent settlements based around tribal affiliations. Members of the family would still follow their flocks during the rainy season, but villages took root and many have been in the same place since that time.

Following the creation of the state of Israel, 80,000 of the original 90,000 Bedouin left or were pushed off of their lands, and fled into Jordan or Egypt. Those who stayed were sent to live in a triangular section of land known as the siyaj. Beer Sheva, Dimona, and Yeruham form the points of this triangle, and today the vast majority of the Bedouin live within the borders of this land.