Contemporary state discourse and historical pastoral spatiality: contradictions in the land conflict between the Israeli Bedouin and the State

摘要

Israeli State discourse of Bedouin land, as State-land, manifested in court litigations, planning practices and development policies, is anchored in the mawat category of the 1858 Othman Land Law. It is refuted when confronted with Bedouin spatiality in the nineteenth century in terms of farming, settlements and land ownership. This alternative discourse may serve the Bedouin as a tool for struggle in the land conflict. It carries a potential for reducing the tension between them and the State.