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Bedouins say Israeli police ignoring violence in their communities

Some characterize the Negev as the Wild West because of the lack of law enforcement.
A Bedouin man stands next to a mural depicting Micky Mouse outside a polling station as Israelis vote in a parliamentary election, in the city of Rahat in Israel's southern Negev Desert April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC175CC9E220

On June 2, a disturbing recording from an incident at the military training base Tzeelim in the south of Israel was made public. Bedouin youth who were suspected of stealing munitions threatened the reserve soldiers who chased them.

Anyone who is familiar with the situation in the south knows that this incident is part of the daily life of residents, a situation where a small segment of Bedouin youth has adopted crime and violence as a lifestyle, pure and simple. The truth is that quite a few times in the past, Bedouin youth have been documented firing guns in public, even if this is supposedly “celebratory shooting” following a wedding, and behaving as if there’s no law and no judge.

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