We are proud and happy to present to you an issue on Palestinian Bedouins that is authored almost entirely by Palestinian Bedouins. Their situation is dire and underreported. For example, I asked for a list of the Bedouin communities under threat of eviction, such as Khan al-Ahmar, Susiya, Msafar Yatta – not expecting to learn that 46 communities in the central West Bank alone (see the OCHA report) and 37 unrecognized Bedouin villages in Al-Naqab (the Negev) are at risk of forcible displacement. Not to mention the communities in the southern West Bank, among them Dgaiga (found online also under Dkaika and Dakaika, a village documented by British Mandate era aerial photos), whose fight for recognition is presented here. While this issue only scratches the surface of the topic, we are grateful for the engagement of the authors who shared their stories and insights.
This Week in Palestine wishes to thank Bedouins Without Borders (BWB) for acquiring the Bronze Sponsorship in support of this issue and UNDP for their support of BWB. Our gratitude goes to the authors of this issue: Wisam Salah, the founder of BWB, an author and an activist; UNDP/PAPP; Dr. Ali Qleibo, an anthropologist, author, and artist; Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel; Khaled Al-Sheikh, an administrative and logistical coordinator for BWB; Ra’fat Abu Ayesh, an activist, tour guide, and educator from the Naqab; Marwan Abu Freih, the Naqab Branch Coordinator at Adalah; Dr. Ziad Hmaidan, a founding member and director of programs at BWB; Mahmoud Nassir Najada, a tour guide with BWB; Ahmad Heneiti, a researcher and author; Mahmoud Al-Afranji, a human rights and organizational consultant; Ibrahim Al-Hathalin, who lives in the Bedouin community Khashim al-Daraj; Sheikh Nasser Mubarak al-Ta’mari, a poet and a writer, and Huthaifa al-Hathaleen, a poet who has represented Palestine in the pan-Arab poetry contests The Poet of the Millions; Suleiman Naser al-Najada, a Bedouin from the Arab al-Ka’abne tribe; Sheikh Sami Abu Freih, a manager at the Bedouin Heritage Centre in Rahat; Jamal Darawi, a muslah and tribal judge who holds an MA in criminology and criminal justice; Ruba Farawneh, a photographer and the media coordinator for BWB; Nassar Ibrahim, an author and novelist; Osama Staiti, director general of tourism services at the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities; Hind Hajar Salman, the coordinator of the women’s program at BWB; Nasser Mohammad Ka’abneh, a tour guide and Guardian of the Desert, and Ala’ Khalil, a financial administrative assistant for BWB and Guardian of the Desert; and Shirabe Yamada, the executive director of the Palestinian fair trade organization Sunbula, with Khadra Alsanah, the co-director of Sidreh, an organization working to empower Palestinian Bedouin women in the Naqab.
Enjoy the listed events.
The entire team at TWiP wishes you well. Our thoughts are particularly with our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria as well as the Ukraine.
By Marina Parisinou
