Film Tries to Capture 'Truth' of Bedouin Life [Israel's democracy & Arab on black racism inside the Bedouin Muslim community]
Film Tries to Capture 'Truth' of Bedouin Life [Israel's democracy & Arab on black racism inside the Bedouin Muslim community]
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/13325
Film Tries to Capture 'Truth' of Bedouin Life, in All Its Hues
June 21, 2007 - Carin M. Smilk, Managing Editor
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Exterior of "A Step Forward" in Rahat |
Nothing is ever black and white, especially when it comes to people.
Take, for example, the situation with Israel's Bedouin population, particularly in the south of the country, in the Negev Desert. There, some 180,000 Bedouin reside -- all citizens of Israel, but some black, and some white.
The so-called white Bedouin are often dark-skinned, in typical Middle Eastern fashion, like many Sephardic Jews. The black Bedouin are actually former Africans, who were kidnapped by Arab slave traders; auctioned off in Zanzibar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt; and eventually brought through the Middle East -- and into the Negev. With the establishment of the State of Israel, they were freed, and later settled, for the most part, with many of the white Bedouin in desert towns and villages.
Israel keeps no record of the number of black Bedouin as opposed to white; population figures go by ethnicity, hence all Bedouin are counted together. But a sizable community lives in their own neighborhoods in Rahat, one of seven recognized towns established in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Israel government for certain Bedouin tribes. Less than 30 miles due north of Beersheva, modern-day Rahat is now a bustling city of more than 40,000 people -- the second largest Arab city after Nazareth in the north.
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Alia Al Kamalat, headmistress of the Omar bin Al-Khatab elementary school in Rahat, Israel |
But these people are not faring so well, and their hardships led a Jewish filmmaker to take a snapshot of life in Rahat, seen through the eyes of a handful of black Bedouin.
Uri Rosenwaks, originally from Beersheva, came to teach a film class to a group of women amenable to the idea, and along the way, learned a lesson or two himself.
For one, Rahat -- which means "collective" -- ranks as one of the poorest cities in Israel, with an unemployment rate of about 18 percent, twice the national average. Some 50 percent of Rahat's adult population and 60 percent of its children live below the poverty line. It boasts one of the largest birthrates in Israel, with especially low education and employment rates for women, and especially high dropout rates when it comes to boys and school. Statistics point to the blacks as having an even rougher time of it than the whites.
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Documentarian Uri Rosenwaks with Bedouin NGO director Majid Al Kamalat after a screening of "The Film Class" |
"Israel," says Rosenwaks, "is turning into a capitalistic jungle," and it's leaving behind some of its struggling citizens. With no previous knowledge of the status of black Bedouin, Rosenwaks took what he absorbed in 18 months and turned it into a 53-minute documentary called "The Film Class," completed in 2006 and now weaving its way through the Jewish film-festival circuit.
'An Unfounded Stigma'
Superficially, the documentary centers on women of different ages understanding the mechanics of film production, but its real value lies in the self-knowledge and ancestral history they gain from interviewing others. For instance, they learn that older women know little in the way of their family trees, reaching back only to a grandparent at best. They know little of how they even wound up in Rahat. Male subjects seem to know more, like the nearly 90-year-old man who tells of black Bedouin, both male and female, being stolen as children, dragged away to be sold.
At times, the women visibly wrestle with their reactions to the stories they hear. They also get the chance to travel to see firsthand where they come from -- the group, with grant money for the making of the film, go all the way to Zanzibar to uncover their roots and find out more about the hardships of former slaves. (They also fly to England for quite a different adventure, one that addresses a serious familial issue, but also adds a bit of levity to the production.)
And it isn't just the past that stings. In an on-air talk with Talal Alkiernawi, the mayor of Rahat, the women challenge him on contemporary issues, like the discrepancies between blacks and whites.
In that interview, the women ask him rather bluntly, "Don't you feel that there is racism inflicted upon the blacks?"
The mayor distinctly pauses before answering with, "I don't see any racism."
Look, he continues, "I am a Muslim like you, an Arab like you. We speak the same language; we share sorrows and joys. I don't see any racism."
But another response to the same question is offered by Majid Al Kamalat, the 36-year-old director of "A Step Forward," a nongovernmental organization founded in 2000 by young Bedouin professionals to help residents from the grass-roots up. Its office in Rahat serves as a natural meeting place, as well as the location for part of "The Film Class."
This time, Rosenwaks plays interrogator, referring to something Al Kamalat quietly notes on film: "When you talk about a stigma, what do you mean?"
Replies Al Kamalat: "There is a stigma about the Afro-Bedouin community -- an unfounded stigma -- that we are all thieves and criminals, that we don't care about anything, but the opposite is true. As one of the community, I think it's the opposite. I see positive things, but people tend to see only the negative."
One such positive is the career of Al Kamalat's wife, Alia, who serves as headmistress of the Omar bin Al-Khatab elementary school -- kindergarten to grade six -- in Rahat. A working mother of three, Alia Al Kamalat represents one of the very first female Bedouin principals, though several more have followed in her footsteps. At 35, she is setting a trend for a new generation.
As is her husband, who notes that he appears in the film "for the future of the children," meaning all of the children in his city and elsewhere. And because of his own young daughter, he says he wants to further opportunities for women in general.
Those in the film class mention the exact same thing. They are empowering themselves and their families. They are undergoing an awakening of sorts. Be it operating the camera, setting precedents for their children, contemplating higher education or, for a few of the younger women, dabbling with the idea of marrying someone white, the assembly of students winds up earning an "A" -- for awareness.
Technorati - Arab racism Arab supremacy Arabization Arabs slavery Freedom 911 Sudan Mauritania Chad Darfur Sudan genocide Al Qaeda Al Qaida Bin Laden Anti west Anti American Terrorist oganization 'palestinian' terrorism Suicide bombing Saddam Hussein Torture chambers WTC bombing Homicide bombing London bombing Bali bombing Muslim clerics Mullahs Islamic Hitler jihad Sudan genocide Islamic slavery Arab slaver masters Genocide bombing Anti Israel bias Arab racism Anti Israel racism Islamofacsism Conflict Israel Islamic Jihad Hamas "palestinian" Animalism "palestinian" cruelty "palestinian" Savagery "Palestine" "Palestinians" Israelis Jewish refugees Victims of terror Moderates Islam Radical Islam Militants Arab occupation Arab Muslims Indoctrination Arab hatred Muslim hatred Nubians Kurds Berbers Marsh Arabs Maronites Assyrians Arabism Racism Anti Israel Racism Ahwazi Azeris Balochis "palestinian" Racism Rape Jihad Israeli Arabs Race Clashes Akhdam "Abid" "Zurka" "Arabic" Horsemen Non Arabs bedouins Bedouin HilaliLabels: Arab racism, Arab supremacy, Arabs, Bedouins, history, Info, intolerance, Israel, Israel the gem, racism, Slavery
Arab Reformist: You Know You’re In An Arab Country When…
Arab Reformist: You Know You’re In An Arab Country When…
[ http://infidelsarecool.com/2007/02/27/arab-reformist-you-know-you-in-an-arab-country-when ]
February 27th 2007Via MEMRI:
- “When you cannot find a single garden in your city, but there is a mosque on every corner - you know that you are in an Arab country…
- “When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity - do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.
- “When religion has control over science - you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.
- “When clerics are referred to as ’scholars’ - don’t be astonished, you are in an Arab country.
- “When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and whom nobody is permitted to criticize - do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.
- “When you find that the large majority of people oppose freedom and find joy in slavery - do not be too distressed, you are in an Arab country.
- “When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but [see them] seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab high positions [in the government] - do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country…
- “When monarchies turn into theocracies, and republics into hybrids of monarchy and republic - do not be taken aback, you are in an Arab country.
- “When you find that the members of parliament are nominated [by the ruler], or else that half of them are nominated and the other half have bought their seats through bribery… - you are in an Arab country…
- “When you discover that a woman is worth half of what a man is worth, or less - do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country…
- “When you see that the authorities chop off a man’s hand for stealing a loaf of bread or a penny, but praise and glorify those who steal billions - do not be too surprised, you are in an Arab country…
- “When you are forced to worship the Creator in school and your teachers grade you for it - you can be sure that you are in an Arab country…
- “When young women students are publicly flogged merely for exposing their eyes - you are in an Arab country…
- “When a boy learns about menstruation and childbirth but not about his own [body] and [the changes] it undergoes in puberty - roll out your prayer mat and beseech Allah to help you deal with your crisis, for you are in an Arab country…
- “When land is more important than human beings - you are in an Arab country…
- “When covering the woman’s head is more important than financial and administrative corruption, embezzlement, and betrayal of the homeland - do not be astonished, you are in an Arab country…
- “When minorities are persecuted and oppressed, and if they demand their rights, are accused of being a fifth column or a Trojan horse - be upset, you are in an Arab country…
- “When women are [seen as] house ornaments which can be replaced at any time - bemoan your fate, you are in an Arab country.
- “When birth control and family planning are perceived as a Western plot - place your trust in Allah, you are in an Arab country…
- “When at any time, there can be a knock on your door and you will be dragged off and buried in a dark prison - you are in an Arab country…
- “When fear constantly lives in the eyes of the people - you can be certain that you are in an Arab country.”
Technorati - Freedom 911 Al Qaida Al Qaeda Al Qaida Bin Laden Al Zarqawi Anti west Anti American Intolerance Terrorist oganization Hamas 'palestinian' propaganda Al Aqsa Alaqsa 'palestinian' terrorism Suicide bombing Saddam Hussein Torture chambers WTC bombing Homicide bombing London bombing Bali bombing Beheading Abu Sayyaf Honor killing Muslim clerics Mullahs Islamic Hitler Iran Regime Ahmedinejad Iran nukes Human rights War on terror jihad Sudan genocide Islamic slavery Arab slaver masters Genocide bombing Anti Israel bias Arab racism Anti Israel racism Islamofacsism Conflict Israel Islamic Jihad Hamas "palestinian" Animalism "palestinian" cruelty "palestinian" Savagery "Palestine" "Palestinians" Israelis Jewish refugees Victims of terror Moderates Islam Radical Islam Militants Arab occupation Arab Muslims Indoctrination Arab hatred Muslim hatred 'Palestinian' hatred 'Palestinian' Child abuse Jewish refugeesDeath cult 'Palestinian' human shields 'Palestinian' human bombs Arab oil lobby Arab oil mafia Islamic Aparthied Ethnic cleansing Passover massacre MuslimArabsArab atrocities Damour massacre Hebron massacre Politically correct Muhammad "palestinian" propaganda "Palestinians" Netanya massacre Hamas Abu Sayaaf Beheading Honor killing Jerusalem massacre Passover massacreBus bombing Islamists Mufti Koran Quran Radical Islam Islam Islamophobia Beslan massacre CAIR Islamic phobia Sharia Fatwa Mullah Kafir Infidels Islamofascism Islamic fascism Whabbism Whabbist Wahabbi Saudi Arabia Islamofacism "religion of peace" Huzbullah Arabism Ahmadinejad Appeasement Apes & pigs Islamic Cruelty Treason Iraq Iran Syria Lebanon Human shields ]
Labels: Arab racism, Arab supremacy, Arab world, Arabs, hatred, imams, Indoctrination, Islamic world, Islamofascism, madrassas, Minorities, mosques, Mullahs, Muslims, n, Oppression
Only Racism Motivates anti Israel "racism" charges - Constant campaign by racist Arabs
Only Racism Motivates anti Israel "racism" charges
Constant campaign by racist Arabs
Anti Israel fascism: Holding Israel to a standard, NO COUNTRY can.
Just after pluralistic multi racial Israel has nominated it's Arab minister...
No matter what Israel does -- the very democratic Israel that is enabling for Arab-advocacy & Arab propagandists to flourish, such groups that have a job of 'silencing real racism, hatred & terrorism by Arabs inside/outside of Israel', via crying 'racism' on ANYTHING, good hearted Israel that faces imminent danger from a sea of fascism, Islamofascism or plain Arab racism, usually both combined -- it just can never "satisfy" the charges of "racism".
The Arab racists know that, which is why they know they can go on & on & on about it.
How can we racis-ize Israel more?
Anti-Israel groups such as "Adala" (by racist Arabs supported by some Israeli Jews saturated by extra-guilt) is even resorting to such ridiculous "complaints" as to why Israel does not promote 'Muslim holy sites' as much as they do for Jewish sites... wow! How is it "racist"? Well, that doesn't really matter much, just as long as they can even remotely claim the desired "racism" word, that WORKS for them.
"Palestinian" Arabs: If you dare defend yourself, I will call you a "racist"
How can one expect to survive fascist Arabs inside Israel that conspire to slaughter innocent non-Arab Israelis?
How can anyone criticize security measures in the war on terror?
Why is it that a checkpoint on Jews is quite OK but a checkpoint for Arabs have to be connected to "racism"? Is this double standard not racist?
Last but not least, Don't forget the good ol' Arab occupied UN that jumps on any "racism" charge, old or new, the body that would never voice anything on real racism by the entire Arab world on ALL it's minorities, without any explanation of 'fighting terrorists' insight.
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Now let's take a look at real racism, no argument here, by Arabs inside Israel, Israeli Arabs' fascism
Israeli Arabs' deny Shoah
Totally Jewish, UK
http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/world/?content_id=5895More than a quarter of Israeli Arabs believe the Holocaust did not take place,
according to a new survey conducted by Haifa University. ...
The Enemy Within
Strategy Page
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/israel/articles/20070321.aspxMarch 17, 2007: There is a growing problem with loyalty of Israeli Arabs, who make up 20 percent of the population. A recent opinion survey of the Israeli Arabs
Israeli Intelligence: Israeli Arabs A Long-Term Danger To Israel's survival
http://www.zoa.org/2007/03/israeli_intelli.htmZionist Organization of America (press release), NY - Mar 15, 2007
Some 40% of the Israeli Arabs involved in terrorism originated in Judea and Samaria but were permitted to come to pre-‘67 Israel and receive Israeli ...
Radicals taking over
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=36787Half of Israeli Arabs justify Hizbullah kidnapping
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3378086,00.htmlYnetnews, Israel - Mar 18, 2007
Prof Sammy Smooha from Haifa University finds surprising support for Shiite organization among Israeli Arabs. 'The Katyusha rockets endangered them too,'
48% of Israeli Arabs Say Hizbullah Rocket Attacks Justified Israel Hasbara Committee (subscription)
http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=2/a/vii/190320071DEBKAfile Exclusive: Israeli Arabs caught fighting with al Qaeda ...
Mar 18, 2007
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3948Captured in Baghdad Saturday, March 17, were two - some sources say three - Israeli Arabs, who told their American interrogators they came from the northern ...
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Related:
Israelis aren't 'racist' - they're worried
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467807212&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter_______________
"
Double Standard"
By Mindelle Jacobs
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Jacobs_Mindelle/2007/02/26/3668039.html
A United Nations anti-racism panel is once again examining the human rights records of various countries and Israel, of course, is being characterized as particularly malevolent.
Last week, Israel was before the committee to answer to allegations of discrimination against its Arab citizens in areas such as education and housing, and the disparities in incarceration rates between Jews and Arabs.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also questioned Israel about accusations that the Jewish state doesn’t sufficiently protect sites considered holy by other religions.
This issue was prompted by a report to the committee by an Israel-based NGO called Adalah, which promotes the rights of Israeli Arabs.
Since 1948, about 250 non-Jewish places of worship have either been destroyed or made inaccessible because of neglect or security concerns, according to Adalah.
Some were razed because of development in the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv corridor and others have simply been left to crumble because of lack of funding, the NGO asserted.
“Jewish sites take high priority, Christian sites come second and Islamic sites a distant last,” Adalah declared.
The group also complained that tourism officials promote the city of Safed as the centre of Jewish mysticism or Kabbalah, even though the city also has a Muslim past.
Well, the Ottoman Empire is long gone and Israel is a Jewish country. It would be peculiar if it didn’t use Safed’s ancient link to the Kabbalah to draw visitors.
As for the destruction of non-Jewish places of worship, I suspect most were sacrificed for the sake of urbanization.
Racism likely played a part in the closure, conversion and neglect of some mosques and that’s unsettling. Israel also has a troubling history of discriminating against its Arab citizens.
But let’s keep things in perspective. All citizens of Israel have full civil and political rights, including freedom of religion. Israel isn’t perfect but it is at least striving to improve.
And Israel has the rule of law to keep the country on its toes. Elsewhere in the Middle East, however, it’s racism as usual – typically state-sanctioned.
In Saudia Arabia, for instance, all citizens must be Muslim and the public practice of other religions is banned.
Non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practices are supposed to be protected. However, this right isn’t always respected, according to the U.S. Department of State’s 2006 International Religious Freedom Report.
In compensation cases, male Jews or Christians only get half of what male Muslims receive. Other men are granted one-sixteenth of the amount a Muslim gets.
And the government, which observes Sunni Islam, doesn’t finance the construction or maintenance of Shia mosques.
In Egypt, non-Muslims need a presidential decree to build churches and synagogues and the neighbouring Muslim community must give its approval.
The construction and repair of churches is typically delayed for years.
Israel’s missteps are mild in comparison, says Aurel Braun, professor of international relations at the University of Toronto.
“Among the tricks here,” he says, “is to set up a standard that no one can meet and then hold Israel alone to that standard.”
mjacobs@edmsun.com
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Technorati - 'palestinian' terrorism War on terror Terror victims 'palestinian' propaganda jihad Genocide bombing Anti Israel bias Arab racism Anti Israel racism Islamofacsism Conflict Israel "Palestine" "Palestinians" Israelis Good VS evil Israel "Palestine" 101 Jewish refugees Moderates Islam Radical Islam Militants Arab occupation PLO Arab Muslims Indoctrination Arab hatred Muslim hatred 'Palestinian' hatred Indoctrination 'Palestinian' Child abuse Death cult 'Palestinian' human shields 'Palestinian' human bombs Arab oil lobby Arab oil mafia Islamic Aparthied Ethnic cleansing Hebron massacre Arab atrocities Damour massacre Hebron massacre Politically correct Hebron massacre "Palestinian" propaganda Arab propaganda Arafat Al Aqsa Al Aqsa martyrs brigade Fatah Hamas Arab racism mufti Islamic Jihad Jerusalem Jihad Holyland Netanya bombing Jerusalem bombing Passover massacre Jerusalem massacre Death cult Israeli democracy Jenin hoax Abu Abbas IDF IDF Moral Achila lauro Arafat Black September Damour Arafat Yasser Arafat IDF Humanitarian IDF Moral Israel humanitarianMunich 1972 Gaza beach hoax Gaza Beit hanoun Human shields Arab Lobby Muslim lobby Human shields Wall Fence Arabism Pallywood Labels: anti israel bias, anti Israel bigotry, anti Israel fascism, Arab racism, Arab supremacy, Islamofascism, UN
Humane Israel multi-racial democracy to grant legal refugee status for Sudanese escaping Arab-Islamic APARTHEID
MKs pledge to grant legal refugee status for Sudanese prisoners
By HAVIV RETTIG
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359887840&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
One must wonder how Musa sees the world. A black Muslim refugee from the Sudan, Musa's refusal to be drafted into the Sudanese army to fight the Arab janjaweed militiamen led to the burning of his village and the murder or disappearance of his 16-member family.
Yet those who carried out the retribution killings were not government forces, but Arab militiamen themselves, armed by the Sudanese government, the very men whom the Sudanese military was trying to defeat.
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Just Remember that Darfurians are Muslims, not Jewish... in fact, they are black Muslims, kudos to Israeli democratic pluralistic multi-racial heroes of (that small little beautiful country "David", struggling to survive against the sea of "Goliath" terror surrounding it only to wipe it off) accepting the victims of the racist Arabs, escaping the Arab-supremacists comitting the genocide on non-Arabs in sudan.
Heard that Arabist Jimmy Carter the faslsifier, the pro Islamic-apartheid liar??
Heard that Arabist Jimmy Carter the faslsifier, the pro Islamic-apartheid liar???
The one that had a hand in the Islamic evil apartheid totalitarian Iran republic & it's current menace on the world. no wonder that such a twisted guy will use the term "apartheid" rather where it's never justified.
Labels: anti israel bias, anti Israel bigotry, Arab supremacy, Arabs, Carter, Democracy, Good vs evil, Humane Israel, Israel Multi-racial, Israel palestine 101, Israel the gem, refugees, Sudan