Bedouin Community Background

The Bedouin population of Taibeh originates from the area called Tel-Malkhatah in the Negev, which was transformed into a military base, today called “Nevatim”. The Bedouin population was wronged as a result of the peace process between Israel and Egypt which took place in the late 70’s. The state of Israel chose the land in these areas to erect military bases previously placed in Sinai.
After the decision was made to confiscate the land, the state of Israel founded an administrative body whose role was to negotiate with the Bedouins of Tel-Malkhatah and improve the situation of the Bedouins whose lands were confiscated or who soled their lands to the state. The managing body only made the situation worse for the Bedouins. As if it was not enough that confiscate the land, it offered very meager compensation in return.
We waged an unprecedented legal battle in order to obtain our most basic rights after such an evacuation – adequate compensation as well as righting the wrong done to the offended families whose lands were confiscated. Sadly, we lost in all legal instances and all our judicial attempts were blocked by the assertion that our lands were a “military zone necessary for the defense of all of the citizens of the State”. Even the supposedly objective legal system caused much misery to the Bedouins, soon to be citizens of Taibeh, thus affected our education, development and more. Our parents decided to receive meager compensation and with little funds and few choices, decided in the early 80’s to immigrate to the area of Kalansuwah, in the Triangle area, some 12 Km north-east of Kfar Saba. There we received fair treatment and an understanding of our plight from good people who agreed to offer them housing for three years for no pay. The parents, along with sons, went out to do hard manual labor in order to earn money and buy land. After a certain period, the landlords where our parents were living requested their lands back, since we wanted to use them to build houses for our children. Our parents then found a few acres in Taibeh and immigrated there towards the end of 1984. On arrival in Taibeh we suffered hostile treatment from the local population who did not welcome us and did not accept the reality of our lands being confiscated by the state. We were called names such as “traitors who serve in the Israeli Army (even though Taibeh is an Israeli town in every sense).
Next, the Bedouins suffered several forms of harassment. As if it was not enough that the state confiscated the lands with no recompense, in 1988 the municipality of Taibeh decided to destroy several buildings that were ready for inhabitance, claiming we did not have building permits. Only recently, and due to pressure from above does the Taibeh municipality intend to include the Bedouin neighborhood in its master plan. The program, however, is stuck due to political interests.