An estimated 160,000 Bedouins live in what are called “unrecognized villages” in Israel. They don’t have access to basic necessities like electricity or running water. They live in tents and ramshackle houses. Most are loyal, tax-paying Israeli citizens and some have even served in the Israeli army as elite reconnaissance troops, or ‘trackers’, known for their tremendous skills in hunting down Palestinian guerrillas.
According to Linda Gradstein, the Israel-based correspondent for America’s National Public Radio news network, Israel’s Bedouin are currently “Locked in a land-right struggle with the government. They fear the Israeli government wants to seize land they say belongs to them and put an end to their traditional nomadic lifestyle. Israeli officials, however, say the majority of the Bedouin are squatters.” Click here for the full story.
