Earlier this week, Israeli vehicles were ambushed by dozens of rock-throwing Bedouin in the vicinity of Be’er Sheva. In a videotape of the incident, two cars can be seen evading the rioters, endangering themselves and the rock-throwers in the process.
The Srugim Hebrew news site reported that the incident occurred four days ago as Israeli vehicles were traveling on Highway 40. In a video recorded by the windshield camera of one of the drivers, the vehicle emerges from a side lane, and continues driving a few meters until it’s met by a wall of rocks thrown by dozens of rioters on the sides of the road. At this point, the driver loses control, with his vehicle swerving in an attempt to avoid the stones, while another vehicle changes lanes, but doesn’t manage to escape a number of large bricks thrown in its direction.
Dozens of Bedouin rioters from nearby villages can be seen along a stretch of the highway, together with parked vehicles at the side of the road. A number of individuals can even be seen crossing the highway with cars driving by.
Ten minutes after making his escape, one of the drivers contacted police, who dispatched a squad to the scene of the incident. He described a feeling of “extreme fear” and said that, “No one expects to have their car stoned on a central Israeli highway.”
“We travel this route all the time.”
There are numerous Bedouin tents and residential buildings belonging to natives of the Segev Shalom (Shaqib al-Salam) village in the area. This specific incident took place in the vicinity of the Ohalim Junction en route to Be’er Sheva. During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, vehicles traveling from Dimona and Yerucham towards Be’er Sheva were also stoned by Bedouin, many of whom live in illegal settlements along Route 25.
Police have not yet released a statement regarding this week’s incident.
Source: Eitan Divinsky – Arutz Sheva
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Prior to the establishment of Israel, the Negev Bedouins were a semi-nomadic society that had been through a process of sedentariness since the Ottoman rule of the region.
During the British Mandate, the administration did not provide a legal frame to justify and preserve lands’ ownership. In order to settle this issue, Israel’s land policy was adapted to a large extent from the Ottoman land regulations of 1858 as the only preceding legal frame. Thus Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands using the state’s land regulations from 1969.[citation needed]
Shaqib al-Salam/Segev Shalom was founded in 1979 based on an agreement reached with Azazmeh Sheikh Ouda which allowed the tribe to settle on its traditional lands.