• 2008: Two Bedouins were indicted for their involvement with Al Qaida.
• 2010: Four Bedouins were arrested for throwing firebombs at motorists on Route 40.
• 2010: Officials of the Israeli Land Administration entered Rahat to demolish an illegally built mosque. A thousand Bedouins rioted, hurling stones at police, who responded with tear gas and arrests. You never saw video footage of these rioting Bedouins, because that would have exploded a carefully cultivated image. So would the image of 700 Israeli riot police trying to contain a powder-keg of Arab rage.
Did you read about these incidents? Probably not. You can chalk that up to the notorious “gag order” that is official government policy. The firebombing of Route 40 several years ago occurred around Pesach. In addition to not wanting to think that the Bedouin is a menace, they were also terrified that frightened tourists would cancel their trips to Eilat. Who wants to be firebombed?
Lest we forget the celebrated Bedouins of the Judean Desert, all that describes his Negev brothers applies to him as well. Except that the tribes of this region are generally viewed as the “poorer” more “nebach” examples of their stronger more well connected Negev counterparts. One thing to consider when traveling the Dead Sea region. The Judean Desert Bedouins have a terrible proclivity for leaving washing machines and tires on the roads at night. And you wouldn’t want to hike Wadi Qelt by yourself. If you think the Negev Bedouin has places to hide (or bury) things, consider the thousands of sinkholes and chimneys throughout the Dead Sea Region, that plunge down into unknowable depths.
Here are some other Bedouin highlights from recent years.
• 2009: Nine Bedouin terrorists from Shfaram had their charges reduced, after blocking a highway with burning tires and throwing stones at drivers. Evidently, the earlier charges of forming a terror cell wouldn’t stick, thanks to their Arab lawyer and Israel’s legal system.
• January 2013: Two Bedouin brothers were arrested for plotting terrorist attacks in the South. These attacks included suicide bombings, shooting sprees, vehicular terrorism etc.
• In May of 2013, Bedouins hurled a large stone at a woman driver near Kfar Retamim. Several days earlier, Bedouins attacked a car with metal bars. The driver was accompanied by his pregnant wife. Fortunately, they fled when he withdrew his gun.
• Bedouin rock attacks against Jewish motorists have risen tremendously in 2014, particularly after the onset of Operation Protective Edge.
These are just a tiny sample of Bedouin crimes. The majority are never discovered. You want an authentic Bedouin experience and not the sanitized “Birthright” tourist trap experiences that provides glatt kosher shish kebab, and a guarantee that you will wake up in the morning?
The authentic Bedouin……
• brazenly squats on government land under the noses of the authorities, and creates shanty towns which become havens of criminal behavior.
The authentic Bedouin……
• enters “military zones” without recourse. The “Fire Zone” signs only apply to you and I. I have seen it myself. A Bedouin women with a herd of goats crossing the shooting range of a local military base. Try that yourself. Count the minutes before you find yourself handcuffed. I give you five.
The authentic Bedouin……
• litters the Negev with filth and pollution, and engages in grotesque unsanitary practices that would have looked primitive in the days of the Black Death. His goats (often stolen from Jews) and donkeys litter the desert with their feces, pollute the few pristine water sources, and devour critical vegetation like a herd of locusts. They are an environmental nightmare. (As a general rule, environmentalists ignore the Bedouin’s ecologically disastrous habits, and even tout them as examples of ecological living. Pursue any ecological degree in Israel, and you will find that a major part of the curriculum is dedicated to glamorizing Bedouins, and excoriating anyone who suggests that we didn’t steal the land from them.)