WRITTEN BY REGAVIM ON OCTOBER 9, 2013.
Around twenty-five years ago, a global discussion began
surrounding the term “indigenous peoples” as it relates to ethnic minorities
around the world. International law however began to address the issue of
indigenous peoples as far back as the 17th century, and by and
large the matter was left to the discretion of the particular state. With the
passing of the years, the law began to recognize an independent status of
indigenous ethnic groups (such as the Indians and the Aborigines) in a way that
was bound together with previous legal agreements regarding preservation of
culture, holy sites, and more.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) associated
with the United Nations tried to advance two international treaties pertinent
to the rights of populations that define themselves as indigenous populations,
yet were unsuccessful in formulating a statement due to each country’s
differing views on sovereignty and indigenous populations.
In the past few years, key figures in the Bedouin sector
in Israel began to apply this term to themselves as characteristic of their
independent status, together with a demand for recognition of their historic
ownership of lands across the Negev.
Despite the lack of an international agreement as to the
definition of “indigenous”, the general recognition of indigenous peoples tends
to use various parameters, focusing on the following:
·
Original Inhabitants – the indigenous peoples are descendents of the
first peoples to inhabit a particular territory.
·
Extended Period of Time – the indigenous peoples live in a territory “from
time immemorial” over a period of thousands of years.
·
Pre-Colonial Sovereignty – the indigenous groups had territorial sovereignty
before the arrival of a developed nation that took possession of the region.
·
Group Connection to the Land – they have a spiritual connection to the land on
which they live.
·
External Validation – other external groups affirm that these people
are in fact indigenous.
Professor Ruth Kark of the Geography Department of the
Hebrew University, considered an expert on conceptions of land ownership in
traditional and pre-modern cultures, in an article that appeared in the “Middle
East Quarterly,”[1]enumerated the generally accepted parameters of the term
“indigenous,” and explains why the Bedouins cannot be included in this
category. Here is the synopsis of her conclusions.
·
Indigenous Peoples – Many
groups preceded the Bedouins in Palestine in general and in the Negev in
particular, including Jewish inhabitants who maintained an uninterrupted
presence in the land since the days of the Bible. Therefore the Bedouins cannot
claim that they were the original inhabitants of the land.
·
The Dimension of Time – the variable called, “from time immemorial” requires a
long-standing presence on the territory. The Bedouin tribes currently living in
the Negev have been there for around two hundred years.[2] As such, they cannot claim that
their presence predates the arrival of a foreign power, such as the Ottoman
Empire, which preceded the current Bedouins tribes present by hundreds of
years. In opposition to this, the Jewish presence in Palestine completely fulfills
the requirements of “time immemorial.”
·
Sovereignty – in the
case of the Bedouins of the Negev, they never had sovereignty over the region.
When they arrived, the Negev was already under Ottoman control, followed by
British and Israeli control.
·
A Unique Spiritual Connection to the Territory – nomadic life precludes any specific fixed connection to
the land. There is no long-standing proof in the Bedouin tradition
establishing a spiritual connection between them and the Negev, a logical
situation owing to their relatively brief presence there and to their nomadic
lifestyle. Indeed they claim the Arabian Peninsula to be their historic
homeland. Today, the Bedouins are not claiming collective rights to the land,
but are rather demanding fulfillment of the rights of individuals to sell the
lands and transfer them to a third party. Such private demands are contrary to
the spiritual dimension, and point to the fact that the main aspiration of the
Bedouins is financial gain with no collective character that would be relevant
to their campaign to be recognized as indigenous.
·
The Group Defines Itself, and is Regarded by Others, as
Indigenous Inhabitants of the Territory – The claim of the Bedouins as indigenous is quite
recent, and was first mentioned only a number of years ago.[3]Previous studies did not find that the
Bedouins regarded themselves in this way, and no researchers made the claim
that they were indigenous. The fact that no other Bedouin tribe in the Middle
East ever made the claim of being indigenous raises questions as to the motives
and authenticity of such a claim. Since the Bedouins of the Negev in a number
of cases are a part of the same tribe that dwells in neighboring countries, it
is thus illogical to say that only the Bedouins who live on the Israeli side of
the border are considered indigenous.
Conclusion: The narrative according to the Bedouin claim
that they are “indigenous” does not fulfill the world’s accepted criteria for
being considered indigenous. Such claims were first made only some ten years
ago.
[1] Are the Negev Bedouin an Indigenous People? Fabricating
Palestinian History. Havazelet Yahel, Dr. Seth Fratzman & Prof. Ruth
Kark. Middle East Quarterly. Summer 2012, pp. 3-14
[2] Ottoman
tax records from the years 1596-97 specify the names of forty three Bedouin
tribes in what was to become the Palestinian Mandate, including three in the
Negev, yet the names of the tribes living today in the Negev do not appear in
this list.
[3] The
first articles to relate to this claim appeared about ten years ago in the
platforms of organizations identified with the radical left in Israel such as
“Adalah,” “the Negev Co-existence Forum,” and the “Human Rights Watch.”
