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HOSPITALITY
 Living in such an unforgiving environment there are strict laws amongst the Bedouin to protect their territorial rights. Trespassers are not easily forgiven or forgotten.
But the hospitality of the Bedouin is legendary and strangers are welcomed into the Bedouin home with wonderful shows of courtesy and respect. The dangers and hardship of the desert have fostered this approach and, as they are isolated people, encountering others is cause for celebration.
A new arrival is often reason enough for a feast. These meetings are celebrated in Bedouin poetry, sayings and songs.
Men receive guests in one side of the tent whilst women's quarters are shielded by a woven curtain. Should a guest arrive on horseback the Bedouin master asks permission to feed the horse himself. Then they settle down for coffee. Surprisingly coffee making equipment is as prized by Bedouins as swords or guns, as this equipment is among their few possessions that they can share with a guest.
Coffee is prepared personally by the master of the tent. Beans are roasted over fire and cooled in wooden dish, before being pounded in a mortar and boiled with cardamom. Three cups of coffee is polite. El'Heif, the first cup, is tasted by the Bedouin to make the guest feel safe; El-Keif, the second, is poured and tasted by the guest himself; El-Dheif, the third cup, is also drunk by the guest, who then shakes out his cup and hands it back to his host. Once coffee is drunk by a guest he is under the protection of the host.
WATER
The ability to transport and find water is perhaps the most crucial element for survival in the desert. In extreme temperatures the human body can require over a gallon of water a day.
Bedouins are nomadic people. They move on to fresh pastures when their grazing lands are exhausted. They cannot afford to to sit tight where water is not plentiful.
Constantly on the move in a harsh environment they carefully planned their routes across desert landscapes, calculating precisely how far their water supply will stretch between wells.
The goat-skin bag has long been the traditional method for carrying water and, once drawn from deep wells, experience dictates how severely water must be rationed.
Tricks to finding water in the desert:
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An old Bedouin trick is to turn over half-buried stones in the desert just before sun up. Their coolness causes dew to form on their surface.
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Desert grass will also form dew in the pre-dawn with your tongue. It can be soaked up with a cloth and wrung out into a container.
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Where sand dunes meet the sea digging above the high tide mark might reveal a thin layer of fresh water sitting atop a heavier layer of salt water.
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Flies and mosquitos are a giveaway for a water source and bees fly in a straight line to and from water up to 1000 metres away.
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Look out for pigeons and doves - they can only exist near fresh water
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Water seepage in canyons, small pockets of water in sandstone rock formations and digging at the base of rocks and mountains can produce water
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Even contaminated water has its uses. It can be used to soak your clothing and reduce water loss from perspiration.
FOOD
 The Bedouin had to develop foodstuffs that could travel with them. In the absence of refrigeration they chose food that walked.
As a result, their diet consisted primarily of meat, milk and dairy produce from the herds of animals they drove before them.
Sheep and goats are the traditional animals kept on the fringes of the desert. Goats fare slightly better in the sun as they can browse on tough vegetation and are more tolerant of dry conditions.
Goats need water every two days, sheep need to water daily. Both provide their owners with milk, meat and wool. Numbers of goats and sheep have to be carefully controlled as too many animals will destroy desert vegetation irreparably through trampling and overgrazing.
Tribal feasts are lavish occasions when a sheep is slaughtered and served in a traditional manner. In Bedouin style nothing is wasted, the entire sheep is served up on a bed of rice and the meal is consumed in order - the men eat first, then women and finally children pick at what is left.
SHELTER
 In the harsh desert environment adequate and adaptable shelter is essential, as weather conditions can change quickly and dramatically.
Bedouins developed large tents they could easily erect, dismantle and transport.
They joined together long strips of densely-woven camel hair and vegetable fibres to construct the fabric for their long tents held up with poles, fastened with guy ropes. The sides can be fastened up or down allowing any breeze to blow through.
Warm when cold, cool and airy when hot, these tents provide both shelter from the fiercest sun and protection from the heaviest rain. The fibres expand when wet making the tent watertight.
Traditionally women erect the tents once the camping site is chosen. Rocks are often chosen as suitable sites as they act as windbreaks, retain the heat of the sun for many hours and will reflect the heat from an open fire. They have no furniture except just carpets and cushions. Inside they are dark and cool.
The Bedouin tent is divided into two sections by a woven panel or curtain known as a ma'nad. One section, reserved for the men and the receiving of guests, is the mag'ad, or "sitting place". The other is for the women, cooking and receiving female guests and is the mahamara or "place of the women".
CLOTHING
 Bedouins make their own clothes from the wool of their camels, sheep and goats. The design of the clothes is both functional and fashionable.
The traditional male Arab dress is a long white tunic, a sleeveless cloak and a distinctive headcloth. The tunic is loose fitting, allowing air to circulate, preventing sweat from evaporating too quickly and slowing dehydration in hot, dry air.
The headcloth or 'kufiyya' is the most distinctive part of an Arab's clothing. It is held on by heavy woollen coils or an 'agal'. The ends of the cloth can be wrapped around the face and neck. It acts as protection from the cold, a shield from the sun's heat, and a screen to keep the wind and sand out. The rope shows the wearer's ability to abide by obligations and responsibilities of manhood.
Women wear black, decorated garments on the chest. Their head and faces are protected by special cover called a bourque, as well as expensive jewels. Their clothes are loose fitting and shield the wearer from hostile elements.
Clothing, one of the few personal possessions they own, is culturally significant to the Bedouin. Tradition dictates that the clothes of the deceased be left atop the grave to be adopted by whatever needy travellers pass by.
When Lawrence crossed the El Houl, a barren plain near Nefudh Desert, on his way to attack Aqaba in July 1917, he observed the following:
"It was a breathless wind - and, as the day went on and the sun rose in the sky it grew stronger - By noon it blew a half gale, so-dry that our shrivelled lips cracked open, and the skin of our faces chapped; while our eyelids, gone granular, seemed to creep back and bare our shrinking eyes.
"The Arabs drew their head-cloths tightly across their noses, and pulled the brow folds forward like visors with only a narrow, loose flapping slit of vision."
TRANSPORTATION
 For a nomadic people movement with the seasons is crucially important. Bedouins often need to travel vast distances and with no permanent dwellings they must carry all their belongings with them.
The Bedouins found the answer to their problems in a four legged animal that carry great cargo, walk for miles and travel for days without refuelling - the camel.
The Arabian camel or dromedary is the ultimate desert transport and has been a fixture in the desert since time immemorial. The animal was first domesticated in Arabia and was then taken to North Africa, India, Pakistan and Australia.
Camels are superbly designed for desert conditions. They can go up to eight days without a drink of water and are able to conserve moisture as they have the ability to raise their body temperatures by 6 °C before they start to sweat. They also save water by producing concentrated urine and dry dung.
Camels also store food and can survive on the fat stored in their humps. Long eyelashes provide shade from the sun and keep sand out of the eyes as do closeable nostrils. Not even a sandstorm will stop a camel.
As fast as a pack horse and able to carry three times the cargo (up to 600 lbs), a camel lives for around 40 years. They feed on almost anything, their razor sharp teeth cutting through the thorniest of desert vegetation.
Thick padded hooves not only endure hot sand and hard rocky ground but also prevent sinking in soft sand. Their legs are also immensely powerful and can be used in self-defence. Thick patches of hard skin have developed on the knees and chest where pressure is greatest as it sits and stands.
Racing camels can average speeds of 33kmh over 10km race. Camels can cover anything up to 100 miles in a day.
Camels are worth a great deal of money in Arabia. They are seen as transportable wealth - the only kind amongst the Bedouin. Prize camels are decorated with brightly coloured, embroidered and ornate regalia - often using shells, beads and mirrors - and the animal is held in high regard in local culture.
Wonderfully elaborate camel saddles take pride of place in the Bedouin home when not in use during weddings and festivals. Camel riders also adorn themselves with necklaces, pom-poms and sheepskin.
A camel is essential to surviving in the desert, afterall, they've been doing it for centuries.
NAVIGATION
Before the invention of global positioning satellites, without even map and compass, Arabs traveled safely across vast, inhospitable and repetitive terrain.
In the desert, landmarks can vanish, sand dunes move, distance can be difficult to judge and visibility may be nil. And yet the Arabs were great travellers and traders.
Perhaps the oldest form of navigation was 'detouring'. The Arab proverb "by three sides is the quickest way across a square" makes sense if you have a large obstacle in your way. A 90° departure from your planned route, followed by measured distances and two subsequent 90° turns will bring you back on course safely around any difficult ground.
Where possible Arabs use footprints and tracks in the day to help guide them, and use rocks and their own shadows as makeshift sun compasses.
At night the North Star, Polaris, aided the traveling Arab. Dune shapes and rock erosion can help if you are familiar with the direction of the local prevailing winds.
Lawrence relied on his trusty compass but the Bedouins he traveled with could find their way practically blindfolded, an amazing skill.
Source : Devillier Donegan Enterprises - Lowrence of Arabia
BEDOUINS IN ISRAEL
Israel’s Bedouin citizens – a minority within the Arab minority – have in recent years received increased attention, both from the media and from government institutions.
The process of integrating the Bedouin into Israeli society takes place on two levels – the formal, i.e., by government policy; and the informal, i.e., by changing relationships with Israeli society in general and Jewish society in particular.
The process, as may be expected, is fraught with "natural" difficulties experienced by this cultural group:
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the transition from a traditional, conservative society which only a generation ago was nomadic, entails relinquishing values, customs and a traditional economy;
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the Bedouin have to cope with the process of urbanization – the very antithesis of their nomadic tradition – and the attending poverty and crime rate;
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the Bedouin to some extent fail to distinguish between objective difficulties and those connected with their changing sub-culture and thus feel an exaggerated sense of deprivation.
Yet a comparison of the situation of the Bedouin in Israel to that in Arab countries will show that Israeli Bedouin enjoy conditions that their brethren lack, mainly in two areas: welfare and land ownership.
Israel’s attitude towards its Bedouin citizens has always been positive. Well aware of the difficulties of the Bedouin and based on a thorough knowledge of the subject, the last two governments have begun taking steps to solve the problems with unprecedented determination and allocation of the necessary funds.
A Ministerial Committee for the Advancement of Bedouin Affairs, comprising ten government ministers has been set up and, over the next four to five years, billions of NIS will be allotted for the implementation of the new programs. The Minister of National Infrastructure, who is responsible for construction and housing as well as for the Israel Lands Administration, has been empowered to negotiate with the Bedouin regarding land rights and has adopted a policy of a "once-and-for-all" solution to those problems.
Demography
The Bedouin population in Israel currently numbers 170,000 persons, living in the following regions:
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some 110,000 in the Negev
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some 10,000 in the central region
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some 50,000 in the north
The Bedouin population has increased tenfold since the establishment of the State (1948), due to a high natural increase – about 5% – which is unparalleled in Israel, or elsewhere in the Middle East. A high fertility rate related to traditional social values regarding size of family and/or tribe as a political advantage, as well as modern health and medical services with easy access, which reduced infant mortality and increased life expectancy, are responsible for this figure.
Education
More than anything else, education can contribute to the integration of the Bedouin into Israeli society. Under the Compulsory Education Law, every Bedouin child is entitled to twelve years of free education and the law is very strictly enforced, at least at the elementary school level. Three factors enhanced implementation: an awareness of the necessity and the benefits of an education as an economic and social-mobility tool; the idleness of children and youngsters in the wake of moving to permanent settlements (they had been the main labor force tending the fields and the livestock); and the establishment of a relatively large number of schools in the scattered locations of the Bedouin.
Within a single generation, the Bedouin of Israel have succeeded in reducing illiteracy from 95% to 25%; those still illiterate are aged 55 and above.
Thirty to fifty percent of the students in elementary schools (depending on location) go on to high school, a ratio similar to that elsewhere in the country’s Arab sector. They attend Bedouin high schools in the Negev and Arab high schools in the central and northern regions of the country.
Some 650 Bedouin – 30% of the Bedouin high school graduates of 1998 – are enrolled at present in post-secondary education. About 60 percent of them attend teacher training colleges and 40 percent study at the universities (including the Technological College of Be’er Sheva). In addition, 35 students are enrolled in universities abroad, since they did not qualify for admission to Israeli institutions; the universities now tend to ease admission standards for Bedouin students.
Health Services
The National Health Insurance Law (NHIL) which took effect on
January 1, 1996 considerably improved health services for about 30% of the Bedouin population who had not belonged to a sick fund. According to the NHIL, every resident is entitled to a basket of health services provided by clinics, specialists and hospitals.
Mother-and-child care centers provide health education, check-ups monitoring development and immunization. Today, hardly any Bedouin women give birth at home; going to hospital makes the mother eligible for a grant from the National Insurance Institute and provides unaccustomed pampering.
The Bedouin in the Negev
Most of the Bedouin tribes in the Negev hail from the Hejaz, a region in the north of the Arabian peninsula.
Education: At present there are 33 elementary schools, three high schools and three vocational schools for the Bedouin community in the Negev. At the elementary level, with an enrollment of 95%, the school population is made up of equal proportions of boys and girls. But because Bedouin society regards females as inferior and does not encourage them to study, girls make up no more than 10% of the pupils in high schools. At first many teachers had to be brought in from outside the community, today 60 percent of the teaching staff is Bedouin.
All the Bedouin high schools and 60% of the elementary schools in the Negev, are located in the seven Bedouin towns there. Over the past five years, extensive resources have been invested in schools, especially in buildings, services, water pipes, heating and more. Computers and laboratories have also been introduced.
Health: There are clinics in all seven Bedouin towns in the Negev (in Rahat, proclaimed a city in 1994, there are four clinics and a day-hospital). The medical staff includes Jews and Arabs; fifteen of them are Bedouin doctors. Most of the Bedouin living outside the towns can reach the clinics easily; in the more outlying areas, several mobile clinics provide services in the mornings.
A total of 12 clinics provide services in the Negev at present (one clinic per 6000 persons); another 10 clinics are in various stages of establishment. Hospital facilities are available in Be’er Sheva. If a gap still exists between health services in the rest of the country and in the Bedouin towns, it relates more to the physical domain than to the level of medicine.
Land Rights: In most countries in the Middle East the Bedouin have no land rights, only users’ privileges. Israeli Law is derived largely from Mandatory (British) law which in turn incorporated much Ottoman law. Under Israeli law, a person who has not registered his/her land in the Land Registry cannot claim ownership; but in the mid 1970s Israel let the Negev Bedouin register their land claims and issued certificates as to the size of the tracts claimed. These certificates served as the basis for the "right of possession" later granted by the government. Following the signing of the Treaty of Peace with Egypt, it became necessary to move an airport to a locality inhabited by 5000 Bedouin. The government, recognizing these land claim certificates, negotiated with the certificate holders and paid compensation to them. Most moved to Bedouin townships, built houses and established businesses.
In recent years the Ministerial Committee for the Advancement of Bedouin Affairs has undertaken to solve the problem of land ownership and has been assured of the necessary funds. The government is willing to leave some 20% of the land claimed in Bedouin possession and to compensate them for the remainder. In the past, tensions relating to land ownership have led to violence. A solution is now possible, but it requires the willingness and goodwill of both partners.
Two kinds of land offenses make media headlines: illegal building and grazing in protected areas:
Illegal building. Tents and light structures (shacks and huts) built illegally are treated forgivingly. But construction of houses of stone or concrete without a building permit is considered an offense, since adequate infrastructure and services cannot be provided. Some 2,000 such locations with buildings already exist, scattered over an area of about 1,000 square kilometers.
Grazing in protected areas. Most of the livestock of the Bedouin in the Negev who keep flocks of sheep and goats are registered and approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, which provides pasture land outside the Negev for six to seven months of the year, since the carrying capacity of the Negev is limited. Owners who, for reasons of tax evasion, have not registered their livestock and do not receive Ministry of Agriculture services, frequently trespass on nature reserves or populated areas. They are liable to be punished under the law.
Permanent locations: The establishment of permanent towns did not begin until the Bedouin themselves constructed buildings to replace tents. But the urbanization process is by no means simple, as the planners have to deal with issues involving tradition and social structure and the Bedouin themselves have difficulty in articulating their wishes in planning terms.
The first Bedouin town, Tel Sheva, was founded in 1967. Here all possible mistakes were made, both by the planners and by government officials. Since then another six towns have been established in the Negev and an effort was made to learn from each previous experience. But the planning concept focused on urban settlement, while many Bedouin wanted to live in rural localities. Today there are plans to found such rural localities and it is hoped that they will satisfy the traditional aspirations of the Bedouin.
The Bedouin urban population in the Negev (1998)
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Rahat
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28,000
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Tel Sheva
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7,000
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Aro’er
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6,200
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Keseifa
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5,500
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Segev Shalom
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2,600
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Hura
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2,400
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Lakiya
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1,500
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Total
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53,200
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The total Bedouin population of the Negev is about 110,000, which means that about 57,000 are still scattered in outlying areas. It will be Israel’s task in the near future, to solve, together with the Bedouin, the problems of their settlement in towns and rural communities.
Livelihood: The desire of about 30% of the Bedouin in the Negev to retain traditional occupations – the raising of livestock and dry farming – as a source of primary or additional income, causes them to seek pasture land, the supply of which is decreasing due to development and increased quantities of livestock. Given the arid conditions of the Negev, the government, though increasing quotas from time to time, providing veterinary services and refraining from the importation of mutton, must limit pasture land. This is at times depicted in the media as cruel, and the Bedouin as victims of high-handedness.
Other sources of livelihood are:
1. Thirty percent of the Bedouin in the Negev have permanent jobs (in factories, government services etc.).
2. A similar percentage of unskilled workers cannot obtain permanent jobs and they are the immediate victims when recession and unemployment strike. The National Insurance Law guarantees minimal income to the unemployed, the elderly, the disabled or ill and to orphans and widows.
3. In private enterprise: they have succeeded to capture three niches in which neither Jews nor Arabs compete (providing income to an estimated 25% of the population): as agricultural contractors with modern mechanical equipment; as owners of trucks, utility vehicles, buses and cabs, or as salaried employees of transportation companies; and as contractors for development work, involving the use of heavy mechanical equipment.
The Bedouin in Central Israel
No Bedouin lived in central Israel in 1948. The fact that 10,000 currently live in this region is the result of migration from the Negev, due to two main factors:
Pasture migration: In 1957 the Negev was struck by drought which lasted for six years. The military administration, responsible for the Negev Bedouin localities at the time, came to the aid of the owners of large herds who requested permission to move to State-owned pasture land in central Israel. This migration led to the establishment of dozens of Bedouin settlements from Kiryat Gat to Mount Carmel, which developed pleasant social and political relations with their Jewish neighbors. In 1977 the government decided that the Bedouin should return to the Negev. Those who had land in the Negev returned there, but the majority remained in Central Israel, because they had abundant pasture land and some of the family members had found jobs, especially in and around the major Jewish cities. In 1992 a new policy, under which they were offered additional rural localities, was adopted; but the process of settlement will undoubtedly last many years.
Labor migration: The second factor that led to the migration of Bedouin to central Israel was the search for work, especially by families that lacked land and livestock. This migration process, which lasted from 1954 to 1970, created Bedouin centers in the cities of Ramle and Lod and the villages of Taibe and Kafr Kassem; lesser numbers settled in other Arab villages. The migrants belonged to two socio-economic groups: those who had left behind land in the Negev and those (the majority) who had not. The latter obtained permanent jobs and income and had no intention of leaving. Most of those who had left land in the Negev returned there in 1980, when the government recognized land claim certificates (see above - Land rights).
In the cities: The Bedouin who moved to Central Israel adapted quickly to urban life, free as they were of the social and political pressure of the Negev Bedouin who opposed moving to the townships set up for them by the government. They moved into houses abandoned by Arabs who had fled the country during the War of Independence, or built shacks (such as the train-station section of Lod). The government is now planning housing projects, taking their traditional needs into consideration. Having become permanent residents and enjoying better national and municipal services, the Bedouin show much interest in both general and municipal politics. in these cities they have also developed special relations with the two dominant communities, the Arabs and new Jewish immigrants.
In the villages: Paradoxically, the Bedouin who migrated from the Negev to Arab villages were not able to create positive relations with the villagers, despite a common religion and language; they are, instead, considered foreign implants. In 1997 the Kafr Kassem Local Council published a leaflet criticizing their Bedouin neighbors, even demanding their eviction. The incompatibility between the Bedouin, who bought small plots of land for agriculture, and the villagers seems to be linked to the cultural-historical difference between farmers and desert dwellers. But like all Israeli citizens they enjoy education, health and welfare services, despite their claims of being discriminated against by the local authorities, especially in the separate neighborhoods that they have built for themselves in each village.
The Bedouin in Northern Israel
The Bedouin in Galilee and the Jezreel valley, numbering about 50,000, unlike those in the Negev and in the Central region, hail from the Syrian desert. At the beginning of the century their nomadic way of life and militancy put them in a position to harass villages and demand tribute, giving them a sense of superiority over the fellahin (farmers). During the British Mandate the Galilee Bedouin were encouraged to purchase small plots of land and such purchases were recorded in the Land Registry as legal possession.
Towards the end of the British Mandate and during the struggle for the establishment of the State of Israel, many Bedouin joined the Jewish forces, believing that the Jewish state would be generous to them. This also explains the continued good relations after the establishment of the State, as manifested, first and foremost, in volunteering for the security forces and serving on the front lines; volunteering is considered by the Bedouin to be part of their blood-pact with the State of Israel.
One example of the good relations between the State and the Bedouin in the North is the tolerance displayed by the government regarding violations of building laws, non-expropriation of land and the establishment of the townships of Beit Zarzir and Ka’abiya.
Conclusion
Whereas the Negev Bedouin are ambivalent in their attitude toward the State and their identification with it, the northern Bedouin identify with it almost fully. This is manifested, first and foremost, in the extent of volunteering for the security services. As a result, the Bedouin in the North are rewarded with a friendly attitude, both from the establishment and from Jewish society at large.
Source: Israeli Foreign Ministry. Dr. Ben-David is an associate researcher at the Jerusalem Institute of Israel Studies
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