Alexandre Kedar, Ahmad Amara, and Oren Yiftachel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603585
- eISBN:
- 9781503604582
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603585.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
It is commonly claimed by Israeli authorities that Bedouins are trespassers who never acquired property or settlement rights in southern Israel/Palestine. This led to massive dispossession of ...
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It is commonly claimed by Israeli authorities that Bedouins are trespassers who never acquired property or settlement rights in southern Israel/Palestine. This led to massive dispossession of Bedouins. This book sets to examine state claims by providing, for the first time, a thorough analysis of the legal geography of the Negev. It adopts critical scholarly perspectives, drawing on multidisciplinary sources from geography, law, history and the social sciences. The study defines the “Dead Negev Doctrine (DND)”—a set of legal arguments and practices founded on a manipulative use of Ottoman and British laws through which Israel constructed its own version of “'terra nullius”—the now repealed colonial doctrine denying indigenous land and political rights. The book systematically tests the doctrine, using systematic archival and geographic research, and focusing on key land cases, most notably the al-‘Uqbi claim in ‘Araqib. The analysis reveals that the DND is based on shaky, often distorted, historical and legal grounds, thereby wrongly denying land rights from the majority of the Negev Bedouins. The book then discusses the indigeneity of the Bedouins in the face of persistent state denial. It argues that international law and norms protecting indigenous peoples are highly applicable to the case of Negev Bedouins. The book then offers an overview of state and Bedouin proposals to resolve the dispute. It shows how alternative plans advanced by the Bedouins, based on the concepts of recognition and equality, provide the most promising path to resolve the protracted conflict.Less
It is commonly claimed by Israeli authorities that Bedouins are trespassers who never acquired property or settlement rights in southern Israel/Palestine. This led to massive dispossession of Bedouins. This book sets to examine state claims by providing, for the first time, a thorough analysis of the legal geography of the Negev. It adopts critical scholarly perspectives, drawing on multidisciplinary sources from geography, law, history and the social sciences. The study defines the “Dead Negev Doctrine (DND)”—a set of legal arguments and practices founded on a manipulative use of Ottoman and British laws through which Israel constructed its own version of “'terra nullius”—the now repealed colonial doctrine denying indigenous land and political rights. The book systematically tests the doctrine, using systematic archival and geographic research, and focusing on key land cases, most notably the al-‘Uqbi claim in ‘Araqib. The analysis reveals that the DND is based on shaky, often distorted, historical and legal grounds, thereby wrongly denying land rights from the majority of the Negev Bedouins. The book then discusses the indigeneity of the Bedouins in the face of persistent state denial. It argues that international law and norms protecting indigenous peoples are highly applicable to the case of Negev Bedouins. The book then offers an overview of state and Bedouin proposals to resolve the dispute. It shows how alternative plans advanced by the Bedouins, based on the concepts of recognition and equality, provide the most promising path to resolve the protracted conflict.
Avi Shlaim
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198294597
- eISBN:
- 9780191685057
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198294597.003.0031
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's war plans after his initial defeat in the Arab-Israeli War. After his operation against the Arab Legion in the Jerusalem-Hebron area ...
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This chapter examines Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's war plans after his initial defeat in the Arab-Israeli War. After his operation against the Arab Legion in the Jerusalem-Hebron area failed, Ben-Gurion showed growing interest in the idea of a military offensive against the Egyptian forces in the Negev. This was after the Egyptians placed the twenty-six Israeli settlements in Negev under siege by preventing the passage of Israeli convoys through their territory. Ben-Gurion feared that the lack of control over Negev could be used for detaching it altogether from the State of Israel.Less
This chapter examines Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's war plans after his initial defeat in the Arab-Israeli War. After his operation against the Arab Legion in the Jerusalem-Hebron area failed, Ben-Gurion showed growing interest in the idea of a military offensive against the Egyptian forces in the Negev. This was after the Egyptians placed the twenty-six Israeli settlements in Negev under siege by preventing the passage of Israeli convoys through their territory. Ben-Gurion feared that the lack of control over Negev could be used for detaching it altogether from the State of Israel.
Gabriel Sheffer
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198279945
- eISBN:
- 9780191684326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198279945.003.0015
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The Israeli military operation (Operation Horev) against the Egyptians, which seemed to be condoned by world opinion, nevertheless caused a new political crisis. This crisis was precipitated by the ...
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The Israeli military operation (Operation Horev) against the Egyptians, which seemed to be condoned by world opinion, nevertheless caused a new political crisis. This crisis was precipitated by the Israeli habit of stalling as long as possible before implementing UN resolutions. On this occasion the stalling was aimed at buying enough time to complete the operation before complying with no other than a British draft resolution, submitted to the Security Council on 29 December 1948, calling on Israel to respect the cease-fire and withdraw from the southern Negev by 6 January 1949. While on the surface this anti-Israel draft resolution was a British initiative, Shertok soon discovered that the main source for major pressure on Israel emanated rather from the USA. Although Ben–Gurion instructed the commander of the southern front, General Yigal Allon, who had pressed for the continuation of the battle over the Sinai, to stop all military activities if and when the British sent in units to enforce the cease-fire, and in any case to change the direction of the offensive from the Sinai towards Gaza, he too was less worried about possible British reprisals than about American political and economic reactions.Less
The Israeli military operation (Operation Horev) against the Egyptians, which seemed to be condoned by world opinion, nevertheless caused a new political crisis. This crisis was precipitated by the Israeli habit of stalling as long as possible before implementing UN resolutions. On this occasion the stalling was aimed at buying enough time to complete the operation before complying with no other than a British draft resolution, submitted to the Security Council on 29 December 1948, calling on Israel to respect the cease-fire and withdraw from the southern Negev by 6 January 1949. While on the surface this anti-Israel draft resolution was a British initiative, Shertok soon discovered that the main source for major pressure on Israel emanated rather from the USA. Although Ben–Gurion instructed the commander of the southern front, General Yigal Allon, who had pressed for the continuation of the battle over the Sinai, to stop all military activities if and when the British sent in units to enforce the cease-fire, and in any case to change the direction of the offensive from the Sinai towards Gaza, he too was less worried about possible British reprisals than about American political and economic reactions.
Alexandre Kedar, Ahmad Amara, and Oren Yiftachel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603585
- eISBN:
- 9781503604582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603585.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
Formulating the Dead Negev Doctrine During the Israeli Period
Chapter abstract: This chapter focuses on the history and impact of the Dead Negev Doctrine—the legal doctrine utilized by the Israeli ...
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Formulating the Dead Negev Doctrine During the Israeli Period
Chapter abstract: This chapter focuses on the history and impact of the Dead Negev Doctrine—the legal doctrine utilized by the Israeli government and judiciary to dispossess Bedouin Arab communities of their lands. The chapter begins with the land claims lodged by the Bedouins in the early 1970’s and the special governmental committee established in response in 1975 (headed by Pliah Albeck of the State Attorney Office, the mastermind behind the DND). The chapter shows how the DND manipulated Ottoman and British law to determine that all Bedouin lands in the Negev should be classified as mewat and thus “state land,” and how it defined the Bedouin claimants as trespassers on their own lands. First adopted by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1984 in the al-Hawashlah precedent, and applied to hundreds of cases since, the doctrine has led to major evictions, crops’ demolitions, and house demolitions by the Israeli state.Less
Formulating the Dead Negev Doctrine During the Israeli Period
Chapter abstract: This chapter focuses on the history and impact of the Dead Negev Doctrine—the legal doctrine utilized by the Israeli government and judiciary to dispossess Bedouin Arab communities of their lands. The chapter begins with the land claims lodged by the Bedouins in the early 1970’s and the special governmental committee established in response in 1975 (headed by Pliah Albeck of the State Attorney Office, the mastermind behind the DND). The chapter shows how the DND manipulated Ottoman and British law to determine that all Bedouin lands in the Negev should be classified as mewat and thus “state land,” and how it defined the Bedouin claimants as trespassers on their own lands. First adopted by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1984 in the al-Hawashlah precedent, and applied to hundreds of cases since, the doctrine has led to major evictions, crops’ demolitions, and house demolitions by the Israeli state.
Hillel Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520257672
- eISBN:
- 9780520944886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257672.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
Many Arabs offered the new state of Israel their services after the Little Triangle was annexed to it. Just as collaboration with the Jews was not foreign to some inhabitants of the Arab villages, ...
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Many Arabs offered the new state of Israel their services after the Little Triangle was annexed to it. Just as collaboration with the Jews was not foreign to some inhabitants of the Arab villages, neither was the art of managing collaborators unfamiliar to Israeli security officials. Some had overseen Arab informers during the Mandate and the war, mostly in the framework of the Shai, but in some cases in the framework of the British police. Some of the Bedouin tribes in the Negev acted in a similar fashion. Some allied themselves with the Jewish forces during the fighting, while others sought Israel's protection and promised to help the state when hostilities ended. In some villages and neighborhoods there was competition for the post of mukhtar, and winning the job was itself adequate compensation for assistance offered. But other mukhtars and collaborators frequently expected more concrete returns, and security officials grappled with the subject of how to compensate collaborators from the time the state was founded.Less
Many Arabs offered the new state of Israel their services after the Little Triangle was annexed to it. Just as collaboration with the Jews was not foreign to some inhabitants of the Arab villages, neither was the art of managing collaborators unfamiliar to Israeli security officials. Some had overseen Arab informers during the Mandate and the war, mostly in the framework of the Shai, but in some cases in the framework of the British police. Some of the Bedouin tribes in the Negev acted in a similar fashion. Some allied themselves with the Jewish forces during the fighting, while others sought Israel's protection and promised to help the state when hostilities ended. In some villages and neighborhoods there was competition for the post of mukhtar, and winning the job was itself adequate compensation for assistance offered. But other mukhtars and collaborators frequently expected more concrete returns, and security officials grappled with the subject of how to compensate collaborators from the time the state was founded.
Michael Doran
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195123616
- eISBN:
- 9780199854530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195123616.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
From July to December 1948, Egypt had sought to retain, with the aid of the Great Powers, control of the Negev and a foothold on the West Bank. However, Israeli's offensive at the end of the year ...
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From July to December 1948, Egypt had sought to retain, with the aid of the Great Powers, control of the Negev and a foothold on the West Bank. However, Israeli's offensive at the end of the year convinced Cairo to accept the best terms that it could obtain directly from Tel Aviv. In February 1949, therefore, Egypt became the first Arab power to sign an armistice with the Jewish state. The Egyptian diplomatic withdrawal also led indirectly to Israel's gain of territory further north. Not sharing a common border with the Jewish state, Iraq could afford to shun all contact: Baghdad ordered its forces to return home without so much as opening negotiations. Jordan's army, now the sole Arab force responsible for the defense of the West Bank, was left in the lurch. On the face of it, this sad finale to a disastrous war marked the complete failure of Egyptian foreign policy. Indeed, the defeat of the Egyptian army and the occupation of most of Palestine by the Jews was also a disaster in terms of politics.Less
From July to December 1948, Egypt had sought to retain, with the aid of the Great Powers, control of the Negev and a foothold on the West Bank. However, Israeli's offensive at the end of the year convinced Cairo to accept the best terms that it could obtain directly from Tel Aviv. In February 1949, therefore, Egypt became the first Arab power to sign an armistice with the Jewish state. The Egyptian diplomatic withdrawal also led indirectly to Israel's gain of territory further north. Not sharing a common border with the Jewish state, Iraq could afford to shun all contact: Baghdad ordered its forces to return home without so much as opening negotiations. Jordan's army, now the sole Arab force responsible for the defense of the West Bank, was left in the lurch. On the face of it, this sad finale to a disastrous war marked the complete failure of Egyptian foreign policy. Indeed, the defeat of the Egyptian army and the occupation of most of Palestine by the Jews was also a disaster in terms of politics.
Alexandre Kedar, Ahmad Amara, and Oren Yiftachel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603585
- eISBN:
- 9781503604582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603585.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
The introduction presents the general setting and outlines the book’s main research questions. It does so by reviewing four key events of recent conflictual encounters between Israeli authorities and ...
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The introduction presents the general setting and outlines the book’s main research questions. It does so by reviewing four key events of recent conflictual encounters between Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities, as telling entry points for the book ahead. The chapter than highlights the book's main arguments, mainly dealing with the development of a 'Dead Negev Doctrine' as an Israeli version of a colonial 'terra nullius' approach, through which most of the Bedouin tribes of the Negev (Naqab) have been thoroughly dispossessed. The introduction also outlines the book's main approaches, methods, sources and structureLess
The introduction presents the general setting and outlines the book’s main research questions. It does so by reviewing four key events of recent conflictual encounters between Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities, as telling entry points for the book ahead. The chapter than highlights the book's main arguments, mainly dealing with the development of a 'Dead Negev Doctrine' as an Israeli version of a colonial 'terra nullius' approach, through which most of the Bedouin tribes of the Negev (Naqab) have been thoroughly dispossessed. The introduction also outlines the book's main approaches, methods, sources and structure
Alexandre Kedar, Ahmad Amara, and Oren Yiftachel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603585
- eISBN:
- 9781503604582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603585.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
This chapter is an overview of the “state of the art” in scholarship dealing with Negev (Naqab) Bedouins. It sets the book within relevant scholarly frameworks as a foundation for the empirical ...
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This chapter is an overview of the “state of the art” in scholarship dealing with Negev (Naqab) Bedouins. It sets the book within relevant scholarly frameworks as a foundation for the empirical investigations of the chapters that follow. This chapter defines key concepts such as “Ethnocracy,” “settling society”, “gray space” and “hegemony;” and discusses the emergence and nature of critical legal geography. The chapter then reviews literature dealing with the dispossession of indigenous peoples, focusing on the evolution and nature of the terra nullius concept and its Israeli version —the “Dead Negev Doctrine” (DND).Less
This chapter is an overview of the “state of the art” in scholarship dealing with Negev (Naqab) Bedouins. It sets the book within relevant scholarly frameworks as a foundation for the empirical investigations of the chapters that follow. This chapter defines key concepts such as “Ethnocracy,” “settling society”, “gray space” and “hegemony;” and discusses the emergence and nature of critical legal geography. The chapter then reviews literature dealing with the dispossession of indigenous peoples, focusing on the evolution and nature of the terra nullius concept and its Israeli version —the “Dead Negev Doctrine” (DND).
Alexandre Kedar, Ahmad Amara, and Oren Yiftachel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603585
- eISBN:
- 9781503604582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603585.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
This chapter begins the task of challenging the geographical components of the DND, by providing a thorough account of the historical geography of the Negev, drawing on various historical accounts of ...
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This chapter begins the task of challenging the geographical components of the DND, by providing a thorough account of the historical geography of the Negev, drawing on various historical accounts of European travelers and Zionists. Relying on these accounts, it challenges the hegemonic history and narrative that depict the Negev as an uncultivated and unsettled desert used by nomadic Bedouins. The chapter demonstrates that the human geography of the northern Negev was characterized, at least from the 19th century, by widespread agriculture, in parallel to traditional pastoralism. There is ample evidence that Bedouin agricultural settlement in general had existed for centuries, including among the al-‘Uqbi tribe in the ‘Araqib area. The chapter shows organized local habitation and economic activities, based on a customary and well developed land system.Less
This chapter begins the task of challenging the geographical components of the DND, by providing a thorough account of the historical geography of the Negev, drawing on various historical accounts of European travelers and Zionists. Relying on these accounts, it challenges the hegemonic history and narrative that depict the Negev as an uncultivated and unsettled desert used by nomadic Bedouins. The chapter demonstrates that the human geography of the northern Negev was characterized, at least from the 19th century, by widespread agriculture, in parallel to traditional pastoralism. There is ample evidence that Bedouin agricultural settlement in general had existed for centuries, including among the al-‘Uqbi tribe in the ‘Araqib area. The chapter shows organized local habitation and economic activities, based on a customary and well developed land system.
