Bedouin women in Israel – public meeting Thursday 15th March, Soas

Women and the new frontier: Struggling for Bedouin rights and recognition in the Israeli state

In the last few months, an international spotlight has been focused on the denial of Bedouin rights by the Israeli state. The Knesset’s approval of a programme to evict 30,000 indigenous Bedouin from their lands, after more than 60 years of forced migration and urbanization, has reached UN circles and EU policy desks. What has often been missing from this story is the likewise 60 year struggle by the Bedouin to maintain their lands, and articulate their rights within the Jewish state. As Israel intensifies its siege on Bedouin village life, their communities continue to fight for recognition, equality, and the right to live with dignity and in peace.

This panel will thus highlight Bedouin resistance in the face of threats of dispossession, expulsion and criminalization. Our lens will be on the different actors and agents of change that drive this struggle, with a particular focus on women and their newly forged positions on the front line.

The speakers, Dr. Mansour Nsasra (Exeter), Riya Mary Al’Sana (SOAS) and Farah Mihlar (Minority Rights International), all of whom are experienced advocates of Bedouin rights, will present an evolution of Bedouin resistance under the Israeli state, the changing roles of women and men within the struggle, and current collective challenges against the deteriorating situation in the ground. They will discuss their own role in empowering Bedouin struggles, and what we can do in the UK to strengthen their campaigns and affect positive change in state policy and practice towards the Bedouin citizens of Israel.

Chair: Shimrit Lee (SOAS Israel Society)

Time and place

7.00pm, Thursday 15 March 2012

Room 4421, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG.