Bedouin Settlement in Arab Towns and Villages in the Galilee, 1918-1948

Abstract

The article reviews the historical events that prompted the Bedouin population to settle in existing Fellahin towns and villages in the Galilee during the British Mandate period, 1918-1948, in Palestine. The process began with the migration of Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula to Iraq and Syria, forcing local tribes to migrate west, and continued under the Ottoman rule with the laying of infrastructure for Bedouin to settle in the Arab towns and villages of the Galilee. This trend continued under the British Mandate which ended in 1948. The aim of the article is to analyze the dynamic circumstances that led to the migration of Bedouin communities into Fellahin towns and villages. It argues that Bedouin settlement during this period was affected by centralized government policy; by the influence of Zionist institutions on land acquisition; and by the ways in which local pressures on intra-tribal and rural relations played out. The study rests on archival sources, research literature, and seven in-depth interviews with Bedouin and Fellahin inhabitants of various Arab towns and villages in the Galilee, conducted between the years 2013-2015.