The author reviews official Israeli discourse on the status of Bedouin land, reflected in court litigations, planning practices and development policies, anchored in the mawat category of the 1858 Othman Land Law. The author demonstrates how this discourse is refuted when confronted with Bedouin spatiality in the nineteenth century in terms of farming, settlements, and land ownership. According to the author, the alternative discourse may serve the Bedouin as a tool for struggle in the land conflict, and may reduce tensions between the Bedouins and the State.
Meir, Avinoam