Israel’s Invisible Negev Bedouin: Issues of Land and Spatial Planning

This Brief provides a contextual framework for exploring the settlement rights of Israel's Bedouin population of the Negev desert, a traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab population.  In 1948, the Israeli government relocated this population from the Negev region to settlements in Siyag. The explicit aim was to control the Negev area for security purposes, sedentarize a nomadic people, and to improve their living conditions and bring them into the modern economy. Since then, many of the Bedouin population have continued to urbanize, moving into smaller towns and cities, while some remain in the settlement. The Israeli government’s has recently proposed a new settlement policy towards the Bedouin population, that would expel many from their current homes, which came into recent controversy with the UN Human Rights commission, causing it to be withdrawn. Israel as a whole has very complex social, cultural, and political fabric with territorial uncertainties. This Brief aims to provide an overview of the current situation, provide a theoretical, historical and legal context, explore barriers to implementation of previously proposed policies, and provide potential solutions to improve individual and collective stability and balance the cultural and territorial needs of the Bedouin population with the larger goals of the Israeli government. This work will be of interest to researchers studying Israel specifically, as well as researchers in urban planning, public policy, and issues related to indigenous populations and human rights.

Dr. Deborah Shmueli is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Haifa. She is a planner specializing in environmental policy issues related to water, land use, transportation and solid waste. A strong focus of her efforts is towards environmental and public sector conflict management and community and institutional capacity building. Examples include targeting consensus-based conflict management capacity within communities, NGO organizations, local governments, and district and national Ministries. She has published numerous articles on issues related to planning, conflict management and justice issues. She received her Ph.D. in Architecture and Urban Planning (1992) at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and her M.C.P. and B.S. in Urban Planning from the MIT (1980). Selected Research Areas, Research Grants and Publications follow.

Dr. Rassem Khamaisi is a Prof. in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Haifa. He is a Urban and Regional planner and Geographer, specializing in urban and rural geography. A strong focus of her efforts is towards geography and planning among the Arabs in Israel and the Palestinians in the Palestinians territory and Jerusalem, the beside concentration on public administration and public participation and urban management. Khamaisi has published different research and policy research tackle the urbanization and planning issue among the Arabs and Palestinians. His publication was in the three languages in local and international Journals (in English, Hebrew and Arabic). Publications (both singly and co-authored) in the field of policy research in urban planning and development in Jerusalem and among the Arabs in Israel, such as the urban fabric in Jerusalem, and (The Wall of Annexation and Expansion: Its Impact on the Jerusalem Area), and, (The Impact of the Wall the Arabs In Israel). Other research the Environment Narrative in the Arabs.