Israeli Bedouin policewoman blazing trail, making enemies
An Israeli Bedouin woman who joined the Israel Police to serve her community has become the target of Arabs who consider her a traitor.
A video making the rounds on social networks is causing an uproar in Israel's Arab sector, intensifying passions on both sides of a major dispute dividing the community. On one side are young people who feel that Israel is their country. On the other side are young people who feel like outsiders in Israel and oppose any move that they feel might normalize their relationship with the state.
On Nov. 21, Israel dedicated new police stations in Jisr az-Zarqa and Kafr Kanna, two Arab villages in the north. Four days later, a short video on Facebook showed Sabrin Saadi, a young policewoman from the Bedouin village of Basmat Tabun, making her way to the Kafr Kanna station in her uniform wearing a hijab, while a group of demonstrators curse and spit in her direction. Saadi entered the police station without responding to the provocation.
The video quickly went viral. It was shared by religious nationalist Arab groups in Israel and the West Bank as a warning to young Arab men and women who might consider joining the Israel Police or any other branch of the Israeli security establishment.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Saadi's father, Ali Saadi, said that his daughter was very upset when she returned home at the end of the day, but that he encouraged her to continue to pursue the path she had chosen for herself, to serve her community. He then described her restrained response, which he said dignified the uniform she wore.
