Tribalism Versus Community Organization: Geography of a Multi-Tribal Bedouin Locality in the Galilee

• Authors: Arnon Medzini

Title variants

Plemienność kontra organizacja społeczności: geografia wieloplemiennej miejscowości beduińskiej w Galilei

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Currently the Bedouin community in Israel is in very advanced stages of transition from a traditional to a modern society. The intersection between a traditional nomad population and a country with a modern Western lifestyle is a basic and material point of conflict. The Bedouin tribes that settled in the rainy and densely populated Galilee area were affected by their economic, social and geographic proximity to the surrounding agricultural rural region. This geographic proximity also directly affected the relatively rapid transition from nomadism to settlement. Beginning in the 1960s, Israeli government policy began regulating the Bedouins' spontaneous settlement. This step was designed to encourage trends toward social change and modernization in Bedouin society by means of urbanization. The initiative also stemmed from the desire to prevent spontaneous Bedouin settlement that was characterized by broad spatial dispersal and to concentrate the Bedouins in a limited number of towns. The transition to permanent residence forced the Bedouins living there to cope with cultural and social difficulties.On the one hand, the Bedouin tribal and clan structure strives to preserve itself, while on the other the selection of local leadership requires relinquishing tribalism in favor of the community structure. This research focuses on Zarzir, a Bedouin locality in the Galilee region of northern Israel comprising five tribes. The research revealed that the residents of this multi-tribal community demonstrated they were able to bridge between traditional values and modern values, contributing to the process of their adjustment to living in an urban residential environment. They slowly overcame their tribal pride and mutual suspicion and began to understand that it would be more beneficial to promote an independent municipal organization based on democratic elections according to candidates' management skills rather than based on tribal traditions.

PL

Beduini w Izraelu znajdują się obecnie na bardzo zaawansowanym etapie przejścia ze społeczności tradycyjnej do nowoczesnej. Zderzenie tradycyjnej wspólnoty wędrownej z krajem o nowoczesnym zachodnim stylu życia jest fundamentalnym i materialnym punktem zapalnym. Plemiona beduińskie, które osiadły w obfitym w opady oraz gęsto zaludnionym rejonie Galilei, odczuły gospodarczą, społeczną i geograficzną bliskość otaczającego je regionu rolniczego. To geograficzne sąsiedztwo spowodowało także względnie szybką transformację z nomadyzmu do osadnictwa. Począwszy od lat 60. XX w. władze izraelskie regulują spontaniczne osady Beduinów. To przejście do stałego pobytu wymusiło na zamieszkujących te tereny Beduinach radzenie sobie z trudnościami natury kulturowej oraz społecznej. Z jednej strony starają się oni zachować swoją strukturę plemienną i klanową, z drugiej jednak wybór lokalnych przywódców wymaga od nich porzucenia jej na rzecz organizacji społeczności. Niniejsze badania koncentrują się na miejscowości Zarzir (lokalnym samorządzie w rejonie Galilei w północnym Izraelu), w której zamieszkuje pięć plemion. Badania wykazały, że mieszkańcy tej wieloplemiennej społeczności stopniowo przezwyciężyli swoją dumę plemienną oraz wzajemną podejrzliwość, a także zrozumieli, że bardziej korzystne będzie promowanie niezależnej organizacji opartej na demokratycznych wyborach spośród kandydatów posiadających umiejętność zarządzania, a nie na tradycjach plemiennych. 

Keywords

EN

Bedouin settlement; Galilee tribes; Israel's Bedouins; planned settlement; spontaneous settlement

PL

osady Beduinów; plemiona Galilei; Beduini w Izraelu; planowane osadnictwo; spontaniczne osadnictwo; osady Beduinów; plemiona Galilei; Beduini w Izraelu; planowane osadnictwo; spontaniczne osadnictwo

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Studia z Geografii Politycznej i Historycznej
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 5
• Pages: 237-255

Dates

published

2016-12-30

Contributors

author

Arnon Medzini

• Oranim Academic College of Education, Geography and Environment Department, Tivon 3600600, Israel

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Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/2300-0562.05.11