Beyond Stereotypes of Bedouins as ‘Nomads’ and ‘Savages’: Rethinking the Bedouin in Ottoman Southern Palestine, 1875–1900

Abstract

This article explores and contests dominant representations of the Bedouin in Historic southern Palestine as nomads and savages, through the study of inter-Bedouin land conflicts in the second half of the nineteenth century. By studying the late Ottoman period, the author seeks to examine Bedouin-State interactions surrounding the question of territoriality and space-making, as well as the long-standing impact of the Ottoman heritage in southern Palestine. The available Ottoman archival resources shed important light on Ottoman representations of the Bedouin, their space and modes of living, and challenge hegemonic representations of the Bedouin as well as the broader pre-Beersheba Bedouin historiography. More specifically, the archival material shows that research categories that are dominant and prevalent in the study of the Bedouin today, such as ‘nomadism’ and ‘pastoralism’, need to be re-thought, and new approaches to the study of the Bedouin need to be employed.