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Mr. Khalil is a Bedouin and lives in a very, very small hamlet in the Judean

desert. Unfortunately the Israelis have issued demolition orders for all the

structures in the hamlet, inc. an open-air bread-oven.

A fine portrait of a gentle looking man.  So why are the Israelis destroying his hamlet?

The Israelis mean the hamlet threatens their security. NB the hamlet is out in the desert. and ... how can a open air bread oven be a threat to anyone´s security.

Why he can't build? He cannot legally build on land which is public domain and neither can I. Over 90% of the Land in Israel is public domain including the property I live on. Poverty and illiteracy among Negev Bedouins remains a problem which Israel has yet to solve. About 10% (wiki) of the Negev Bedouins serve in the Israeli Army though not required.  I'm not much familiar with the Judean Bedouins but they have the same social problems as their Negev counterparts. 

Bedouins towns in the Egyptian Sinai have run unchecked and become hubs of drug smuggling, kidnappings and terrorism. That has not happened in Israel.

PN is off course not a forum for politics, but allow me to put one question to you:

How can you state that these parts of the Judean desert belong to Israel, as they are o c c u p i e d by Israel since 1967( pre 1967 they were occupied by Jordan) and the bedouins have lived here for generations. Even before 1948.

The context of your header makes it political, documentary or nationalistic -whatever is chosen to call it.

The Middle East is Complicated is it not?

A question begged: why is Jordan "Jordan" when in fact it was Palestinian Territory until the British gave it away to the Hashemite Clan and Palestinians still comprise the majority of the population?

The area you refer to is recognized as Judea or Judean Desert -not as the Bedouin Desert or Palestinian Desert or Arabia -and it is recognized as such because for a thousand years +/- a bit, it was the part of the State of Israel allocated to the Tribe of Judah -hence "Judean". Things have come full circle.

A map is worth many words.

The Judean Desert is also part of Israel because those are the "facts on the ground".  The U.S.A is a "fact on the ground" even though it's been around a bit over 200 years whereas the Native Ameircans got there about 12,000 years before the British.

I do not think anyone advocates giving North America back to the indigeous, nor Judean Desert to the Bedouins nor Sweden to the Sami.  History is not always fair.

The so called 67 boders? Well that is another topic altogether.

I hope this provides you with some answers to your question.

"off topic"? I think not. Photos are supposed to make statements and statements  can to be discussed.

So you mean that the Judean desert belongs to Israel, just because Jews lived there 850 BC??? Well, I do not think UN agrees upon that.

Besides, you write about " the facts on the ground" mentioning the Red Indians in USA. Do you want the Bedouins/ Palestinians on the occupied West-Bank to share their fate; i. e. another genocide? If not so, what do you suggest Israel shall do with those 2 500 000 Palestinians that live there?

Shabat shalom,

Bjorn

To correct myself and clarify things for you so that you are not mislead -

A) We started with a photo of a Bedouin in a desert, not about 2.5 million Palestinians and genocide as just alluded to.

B) Until Borjn clarified for me the second time I did not realize the photo was taken in the West Bank otherwise I'd not have written - land in Israel is Public Domain.

(below I think everything is about accurate. It comes from Wikipedia.

C) Occupation Bjorn refers to is legal according to the Oslo Accord signed off on by U.S.A the Palestinian Authority and Russia.  Problem is that it has remained legal for too long.  By the Oslo agreements,  issues of contention were supposed to have been reached within 5 years -now over 10 years and still not.

D) By agreement at Oslo the Palestinian Authority Administers and maintains Security Control over 96% of the Palestianian Populatian in 40% of the land. Israel oversees Adminstration and Security Control over 4% of the population in 60% of the land. The rest is divided whereby the PA Administrates and Israel has Security Control. In addition there are disputed areas which get very complicated.

Since Oslo, more control has been turned over the the Palestinian Authority.  These are the "facts on the ground" as I know them.

I and most every Israeli right and left propose to the Palestinians; success and happiness in your own State and we expect they intend the same to us.

How genocide entered this thread I do not know nor am I asking.