The riots taking place in the Negev did not surprise anyone. A group of Bedouin have been taking advantage of the government’s apparent helplessness for years and have effectively seized state property. Everything exploded when tree plantings took place in the Negev on the occasion of the Tu Bishvat holiday. This unrest by the Bedouin stems mainly from Arab members of Israel’s government and from the Islamic Movement faction in northern Israel, which was outlawed in 2015.
See: Planting Trees Set Bedouin on Fire
The main instigators are the Arab Knesset members. Two factions, the Ra’am party, which is a part of the government coalition, and the Joint Arab List, a group of three political party that criticizes every decision that the first faction makes.
Kamal al-Khatib, deputy to Raed Salah who heads the Northern Faction of the Islamic Movement, joined with the violent Bedouin demonstrators in the Negev. He says that this time...
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