The Bedouin in Israel's southern Negev desert have historically been averse to central government, and for hundreds of years tried to maintain a lifestyle of self-governance based on tribal traditions.

However, in the 60 years since Israel's foundation, they have undergone a rapid urbanisation process directed by the state, and their lifestyle has changed dramatically - some say for the worse.

"The social frameworks were destroyed in many cases by urbanisation," said Kher al-Baz, a Bedouin social worker and social planning expert. "This process brought about negative phenomena, such as crime, vandalism, drugs and high unemployment," he said.

History

The Bedouins in the south can be divided into two groups. About 120,000 (60 percent) live in seven townships set up by the state between 1968 and the 1980s. An additional 80,000 live in 45 villages unrecognised by the state, spread out across the northern Negev desert.

These 'illegal villages', Israel says, sit on 'state lands', although the Bedouins counter that most of these villages existed for centuries, and some were even founded by the nascent state in the 1950s.

Israel says it wants to urbanise the Bedouin, or at least concentrate and 'settle' them. The first Bedouin township of Tel Sheva was built in 1968, two years after the cancellation of the martial law on Israel's Arabs.

"The involuntary, unnatural process was not planned with the Bedouins," said Al-Baz, a resident of Tel Sheva. He gave the example of housing, where the state ignored the Bedouins' emphasis on the family unit.

"The first houses of Tel Sheva were far too small for Bedouins, with maybe 14 people in a family. They stayed empty for 15 years. After [the state] added some 200 sqm to the houses, people moved in."

The unrecognised villages are not entitled to housing permits, water, electricity or other services. The state says it can solve the problems through concentration. Meanwhile, it continues to demolish homes.

People such as Hussein al-Rafay`a, chairman of the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), say that along with a connection to historic lands, the situation in the townships is a prime reason for the unwillingness to move.

Crime rates are among the country's worst and far too high a percentage of residents are in prison, he alleged.

"Also, the police rarely enter. There are no patrols. When they destroy homes, they say they are enforcing the law, but they don't act inside the townships to prevent crime."

An Israeli police spokesman said the force worked with the Bedouins, like any other sector in Israel. He said the police ran various programmes in the townships, including community groups.

Unemployment

The unemployment problem is directly related to the way the state built the township, say observers and residents, as they have few, if any, commercial or industrial zones.

"I have an industrial zone without electricity, without phone lines," said Said al-Khroumi, the council head of Segev Shalom, one of the townships.

A spokeswoman for the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) said the state was building commercial and industrial zones. However, Erez Tzfadia, from the Sapir Academic College, said Israel had been building these zones for the "past 40 years".

Tzfadia also said Bedouins lost their agricultural income with the move to the city.

"The townships are not a success story," Al-Khroumi concluded, blaming the state for not investing in education and infrastructure.

With regard to education, he said, the proof was right outside his office, where caravans were used as classrooms, as, due to natural growth, the schools built by the state are too small. Overcrowding is already an epidemic, affecting studies and future employment.

"Pick any young couple here. At least one of them is certainly unemployed," he said.

Women hit hardest

The lack of jobs in the town particularly affects women, as they, due to social and other constraints, such as the lack of public transport, cannot travel outside the townships for employment.

About 87 percent of Negev Bedouin women are unemployed, according to rights groups, and most do not finish school.

"The state doesn't enforce education laws to make sure girls stay in school," said Amal A-Sana, from AJEEC, a social justice NGO. "The same way it doesn't crack down on polygamy," she added.

A-Sana also said the urbanisation process hit women particularly hard, as they lost their long-established responsibilities and freedom of movement within the tribal grounds.

"She used to be in charge of water, the tent. She had social and political roles. They were lost with urbanisation. My mother went from having space to being locked behind four walls."

She says inter-family conflicts arise in many cases due to the generation gaps created.

Government plans

On 15 July, Israel's cabinet established the Bedouin Negev Settlement Authority to settle land claims and to improve living conditions for Bedouins, at least in the townships.

The government promised help in job integration, coordination of educational and social services and said it would improve buildings and infrastructure.

"While there is work to be done, there is also progress [being made] and the government will continue to take the necessary measures to rectify the situation," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement to IRIN.

Copyright © IRIN 2007 [This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.]