Minority Report
Ishmael Khaldi discusses Israel's Bedouin minority

By Nadav Shlezinger

Ishmael Khaldi is an Israeli Bedouin from Khawalid, in the lower Galilee, where he was brought up as a shepherd. Recently, Khaldi has visited a number of countries, including the US, Canada, Great Britain and Australia, to speak about the role of Bedouins in Israeli society.

Khaldi holds a Masters degree in Political Science from Tel Aviv University, served in the Israeli Border Police, and following military service, was a member of the regular police. He has also served as a political analyst for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and is the founder and director of Amitim, a non-profit organisation that aims to strengthen the ties of the Bedouin community to the State of Israel.

Khaldi recently visited Australia as a guest of the Australia-Israel Cultural Exchange (AICE). He spoke before a wide range of people, including university students and community groups. Khaldi spoke to The Review from Tel Aviv.

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Nadav Shlezinger: Minorities in other societies often complain about systematic discrimination. How would you describe the Bedouin experience in Israel?

Ishmael Khaldi: Beyond being a democracy, Israel is a bureaucracy. Its good intentions to solve our problems in Israel always overlap with the bureaucratic system, and that increases the frustration of Bedouins. The Bedouins have lots of demands, and there are many problems with the bureaucratic system here.

NS: What sort of demands do Bedouins have?

IK: I always say, and it might be a joke but it’s true, that a shepherd cannot be made into a hi-tech engineer. We are a shepherd society…very traditional and conservative. It will take us a long time to settle down and be a part of modern society.

The Israeli government decided throughout the years that they wanted to help. It’s just the way that Israeli authorities are trying to solve the problems that is wrong. Maybe they’re doing the right thing, but at the wrong time. Bedouins don’t need internet access. We need more schools and medical care. But Bedouins may also need to build dairies for their sheep and for their goats, because it will take them time to abandon being shepherds and to be maybe not hi-tech engineers but educated people who went to university.

The vast majority of Israeli society is very supportive of our demands. But Bedouins don’t have a strong enough lobby to help us, to knock on the doors of authority.

NS: What is the relationship like with the wider Arab community?

IK: When it comes to our position and our status as part of the State of Israel, we have a long story. Bedouins met with the first chalutzim (pioneers), the Jewish immigrants who came from Eastern Europe to build the land of Israel - the homeland for the Jewish people. Even then, Bedouins and Jews lived together and knew each other. I have a grandmother who is 95 years old, and she speaks Yiddish. I think that’s the most human example of the strong relations that Bedouins have had with the Jewish immigrants who came. Even in the 1930s and 1940s, when there was no Israel…they lived together, suffered together and learned many things from each other.

Here you have the difference. The rest of the Arab community in Israel say "we are Arabs, we’re part of Arab culture, we’re brothers of the Palestinians and of the Muslims who live in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon". So for them, Israel is a second thing. There are also many problems with their leadership. I think the younger generation is trying to join Israeli society, but they are influenced by their leaders, such as the Arab Knesset [Israeli parliament] members. The Arab minority look at us, the older generation especially, as if we’re not even part of the Muslim world. (They say) "the Bedouins are left over from the Jews who were lost in Sinai". They only say this because we have such a strong relationship with the State of Israel, as a Jewish state.

NS: How does your experience as an IDF soldier, and later as an Israeli policeman, colour your relations with the Palestinians and Arab Israelis who support them? How do you feel about, say, Israeli Arab Member of Knesset Azmi Bishara’s frequent exhortations in support of Palestinian violence?

IK: For Palestinians we’re part of their enemy, Israel. They just hate Israel and any part that supports it and is an integral part of it.

Azmi Bishara doesn’t represent the position of Bedouins in Israel. His thoughts, perspective and political platform are simply different from what Bedouins think. Many Bedouins in the south vote for him, but that’s only because of his support for them with solving daily problems.

NS: How has the trial of Sgt. Idier Wahid Taysir, currently on trial for the murder of ISM activist Tom Hurndall, affected the Bedouin community? How does the community feel about the ISM and its activities?

IK: Taysir’s case is an IDF issue. Nobody thinks he was accused because he’s a Bedouin. Taysir is an IDF soldier who learnt IDF regulations. The IDF court is discussing his issue and if he is found guilty, he’ll be punished. Nobody has anything against such a judgement.

[However], the strong influence of the Hurndall family in [British] politics led to Taysir’s trial. I think first of all, they [Hurndall’s family] are against the IDF and against Israel. It’s not that they’re against Taysir himself, because they don’t know him. Taysir for them is one of thousands of IDF soldiers. They decided to use their influence to attack Israel and the IDF because of its policies. They wanted to see the soldier who killed their son punished, and I can imagine that they’d like to hang him. The IDF was forced to put Taysir back in jail…and I think that’s one of the shames we have.

We also have to understand what their son did and how he was killed. Their son was an activist with that organisation, ISM [International Solidarity Movement], that has an aim to be a spearhead in fighting Israeli occupation, as they say, in the West Bank and Gaza. So of course, their opinions are very pro-Palestinian, I would say even anti-Israel.

In the last four years, ISM have become a driving political force in fighting against Israel and the IDF - a field they shouldn’t be a part of. Human assistance [is acceptable] - and believe me in Israeli society there’s human aid for Palestinians - but not political action. If we’re to decide on ISM, I think all its activists should be monitored when coming into Israel. They’re just creating more damage than real help.

NS: What are the biggest challenges facing Israel’s Bedouin community today?

IK: The effort to preserve a heritage with great values while joining modern society. Getting more education and sending students to universities. Becoming a settled community, but also keeping the framework of tribal structure and its values.

Only when we achieve this, can we raise a powerful new generation who can lead the community into a better future, raising both the flags of proud Israelis and proud Bedouins.

NS: What is the typical reaction you face during speaking engagements at university campuses across the world? Are people surprised to find an Arab speaking out for Israel?

IK: Generally, the reactions are of opposition. [Anti-Israel activists think] if you’re not Jewish you aren’t supposed to be supporting Israel. Many find it surprising to hear that Israel has non-Jews. And many even change their minds when they hear [my] story.

In the last year and a half, I’ve spoken on almost every campus in America. Public opinion in the USA is…supportive of Israel. In the last four years, with the beginning of the Intifada, everything started to change, especially on campuses. And I went [to the USA] when Israel’s image started to be damaged on campus.

I went to Rutgers University, in New Jersey. [Most of the people there] were anti-Israel. They were saying "if you are not Jewish…why the hell are you supporting the "Hebrew" state’. Not Israel, not even the Jewish state - the Hebrew state. For their propaganda, this is one of the ways that they don’t recognise Israel’s right to exist.

In Canada, the situation is worse. At two universities in Vancouver, they never wanted me to speak. They didn’t want to hear my story…they didn’t want to hear anything about Israel. [At one of the colleges], after the intervention of the political science department, I went there and spoke. They asked me how I felt when I heard that the college was not going to accept me. I told them, ‘in a democracy everybody has a right to talk…where is the democracy?’ I’m representing Israel, but not as an officer, not as a politician, I’m just coming to tell a story.

In many cases, they accuse Israel of being a Jewish, Zionist and racist country. I told them that if they think it (Zionism) is racism, for me that is racism. They’re preventing me from coming to speak, from coming as an Israeli to speak on their campus. They don’t have to agree with me, don’t have to accept what I say, but at least give me a chance, give me the freedom to come and express myself.

What’s more shocking is the ignorance of Jewish students around the world. Not only don’t they know much about us [Bedouins]…but their knowledge of Israel is very vague. They don’t know enough and don’t have the tools to counter the attacks on Israel. Israel in my eyes is part of Jewish identity. If there’s a worry for the future, it’s the young Jewish generation who are not ready enough to be supporters of Israel.

I think it’s my responsibility to come and speak…Bedouins are a proud part of the Muslim world, but I think above everything, we’re proud to be Israeli. Israel’s right to exist is our right to exist, and Israel’s future is our future…I think it’s our moral responsibility to stand and express our unconditional support for the State of Israel, because we are part of it.

If we can, as Muslims…live in peace with Israel as a Jewish state, then so can the rest of the Arab world. We can be an example for [other] ethnic minorities that live in democracies.