T The Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Bedouins h in the Negev have rarely been included in the Israeli public e discourse, even though they comprise around one-fourth B Bedouin e of the Negev’s population. Recently, however, political, d o economic and social changes have raised public awareness u i of this population group, as have the efforts to resolve the n TThehe BBedouinedouin PPopulationopulation status of the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, P Population o primarily through the Goldberg and Prawer Committees. p u These changing trends have exposed major shortcomings l a in information, facts and figures regarding the Arab- t i iinn tthehe NNegevegev o Bedouins in the Negev. The objective of this publication n The Abraham Fund Initiatives is to fill in this missing information and to portray a i in the n Building a Shared Future for Israel’s comprehensive picture of this population group. t Jewish and Arab Citizens h The first section, written by Arik Rudnitzky, describes e The Abraham Fund Initiatives is a non- the social, demographic and economic characteristics of N Negev profit organization that has been working e Bedouin society in the Negev and compares these to the g since 1989 to promote coexistence and Jewish population and the general Arab population in e equality among Israel’s Jewish and Arab v Israel. citizens. Named for the common ancestor of both Jews and Arabs, The Abraham In the second section, Dr. Thabet Abu Ras discusses social Fund Initiatives advances a cohesive, and demographic attributes in the context of government secure and just Israeli society by policy toward the Bedouin population with respect to promoting policies based on innovative economics, politics, land and settlement, decisive rulings social models, and by conducting large- of the High Court of Justice concerning the Bedouins and scale social change initiatives, advocacy the new political awakening in Bedouin society. and public education. The Abraham Fund Initiatives considers this publication a The Abraham Fund Initiatives' staff is basic tool that can serve those engaged in developing the composed of more than 30 individuals, Arabs and Jews, and is managed Negev and in working with the Arab-Bedouin population. jointly by Amnon Be'eri-Sulitzeanu and We believe this publication can contribute to the Mohammad Darawshe. awakening public discourse on developing the Negev for the benefit of all its residents. Moreover, it can help clarify the importance of promoting the Bedouin population while taking its needs and desires into consideration. The Social, Demographic and Economic Factors Negev is on the brink of a period of development and Arik Rudnitzky change. We hope that those promoting these changes will The Abraham Fund Initiatives adopt responsible and inclusive social policies that will G.G. Communications Center incorporate the hopes and needs of Bedouin society. Neve Ilan, Harey Yehuda 90850, Israel Transformations in an Era of Urbanization Tel: 02-3733000 Fax: 02-3733001 MARCH 2012 Email: [email protected] Dr. Thabet Abu Ras Website: www.abrahamfund.org The Bedouin Population in the Negev SOCIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC FACTORS Arik Rudnitzky TRANSFORMATIONS IN AN ERA OF URBANIZATION Dr. Thabet Abu Ras Critical reader: Prof. Yitzhak Reiter MARCH 2012 © The Abraham Fund Initiatives, 2012 The publisher grants permission to duplicate and cite from this publication, making specific mention of the source. This publication was made possible due to the generous support of The Alan B. Slifka Foundation Greg Rosshandler The Frankel Family Foundation The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation The UK Friends of The Abraham Fund Initiatives Other publications by The Abraham Fund Initiatives ● Governmental Responsibility for Social Inclusion and Jewish-Arab Equality in Israel (2008) ● The Economic Benefits of Jewish-Arab Social Inclusion & Equality (2008) [Hebrew] ● Mixed Cities and Regions: The Future Face of Israel (2009) ● Arab Society in Israel – An Information Manual for Policy Makers (2009) [Hebrew] ● Economic Benefits of Social Inclusion and Arab-Jewish Equality (2009) [Hebrew with executive summary in English and in Arabic] ● Survey of Environmental Hazards in Jewish and Arab Municipalities in Central Galilee (2010) [Hebrew with summary in English and in Arabic] ● Policing in Divided Societies (2010) ● Sharikat Haya – Intervention Model for Promoting Arab Women's Employment (2011) ● Integrating Israel's Arab Citizens in the Healthcare System (2011) ● The Bedouin Population in the Negev (2011) [Hebrew] ● Arab Society Participation in the 2011 Social Protest (2011) [Hebrew] The Abraham Fund Initiatives' publications can be downloaded from www.abrahamfund.org Publications Editor: Maya Popper Translation: Donna Bossin Graphic design and production: Etty Azulay, Tchelet ISBN 978-965-7543-00-9 Introduction Bedouin society is a unique social group within Arab society in Israel, constituting more than 25% of the total population of the Negev and 13% of the total Arab population of Israel. Furthermore, their relative proportion in the population has grown rapidly over the years due to the high rate of birth in the community. This population group is the poorest and weakest of any group in Israel. The standard of living among the Bedouin population, and particularly those residing in the unrecognized villages, is considerably lower than the average standard of living in Jewish localities, lower even than in many Arab localities in Israel. The majority of Bedouin communities lack even basic welfare, educational and health services. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Negev's Bedouins have rarely been included in the Israeli public discourse. Yet political, economic and social changes have raised public awareness of this population group. Today political groups and civil social organizations are showing increasing interest in the Negev region, and particularly in the Bedouin population. This renewed interest derives from the fact that the Negev contains Israel's major land reserves. Moreover, considerable resources have been invested in the region under the auspices of the National Strategic Plan for the Development of the Negev and other plans, for example the plan to move IDF bases to the south. Resolution of the status of the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, primarily though not exclusively, through the Goldberg and Prawer Committees, has been a long and protracted process, and government implementation of these committees' recommendations has also been drawn out. For years the Bedouin population has been neglected and has attracted very little interest on the part of the Israeli government or of Israeli society as a whole. Yet today, public awareness of and attitudes toward the Bedouin population are changing. These changing trends have exposed major shortcomings in information, facts and figures regarding Bedouin society in the Negev. The Bedouin population is the only group in Israel about which there are no accurate demographic figures. This can be attributed to a number of factors: ongoing neglect on the part of government officials and agencies; the fact that many Bedouins live in unrecognized villages; population registration according to tribes; a high degree of mobility; and marriages to women with no civil status. The purpose of this collection of articles is to fill in the missing information and to present a comprehensive picture of the Bedouin population. The two articles in this collection present demographic, social and economic facts and figures about Bedouin society. They were written from two different perspectives for a single purpose: to provide a complete picture of this population group. The Abraham Fund Initiatives sees this publication as a basic tool that can serve those involved in developing the Negev and in working with the Bedouin community. The information seeks to expose readers to the problems and distress of a large proportion of Bedouins living in the Negev and to raise awareness of the price this distress has exacted from the entire population of the Negev. III The first article, written by Arik Rodnitzky, describes the social, demographic and economic characteristics of Bedouin society in the Negev region and compares these to the Jewish and Arab populations of Israel. The discrepancies among these population groups emerge from the article's findings regarding the situation among Bedouin society in such areas as employment, education and health. The article also outlines these discrepancies as they are reflected in the economic input of Bedouin society in these areas and others. The article's survey of the facts reveals a harsh picture of ongoing discrimination and neglect that perpetuate the weakness of Bedouin society and place barriers to its progress. The second article, written by Dr. Thabet Abu Ras, surveys the social and demographic characteristics of Bedouin society in the context of social and political changes. The article describes transformations that took place in Bedouin society in the Negev during an era of rapid urbanization and modernization as well as those resulting from changes in the political map of Israel. The article discusses government policy toward the Bedouin population with respect to society and economics, politics, land and settlement and reviews decisive rulings of the High Court of Justice concerning the Bedouins and the new political awakening in Bedouin society. We believe that this collection