Kuseife ( ar, كسيفة) or Kseifa ( he, כְּסֵיפָה) is a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...

town ( local council) in the Southern District of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Kuseife was founded in 1982 as part of a government project to settle Bedouins in permanent settlements. In 1996 it was declared a local council, and in it had a population of . It is one of seven Bedouin

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

s in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...

desert with approved plans and developed infrastructure (other six are: Hura,

Lakiya Lakiya, or Laqye ( ar, اللقية, he, לָקִיָּה) is a Bedouin town ( local council) in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of . History Lakiya was founded in 1985 as part of a government project to settle Bedouin ...

, Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev),

Shaqib al-Salam Shaqib al-Salam ( ar, شقيب السلام) or Segev Shalom ( he, שֶׂגֶב שָׁלוֹם) and also known as Shqeb as-Salam, is a Bedouin town and a local council in the Southern District of Israel, southeast of Beersheba. In it had a po ...

(Segev Shalom), Tel as-Sabi (Tel-Sheva) and the city of Rahat, the largest among them).

Population

Members of several Bedouin family clans reside in Kuseife: Abu Ajaj, Elamor, el-Zabarka, el-Nasasra, the biggest of them Abu-Rabia. Other families are: Azbarga, El-Dada, Abu Juda and Abu Anam. A part of el-Nasasra and Elamor clans lives outside Kuseife in a close proximity to the

Nevatim Airbase Nevatim ( he, נְבָטִים) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert around south-east of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In it had a population of . The nearest settle ...

. According to the

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ( he, הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ar, دائرة الإحصاء المركزية الإسرائيلية), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government ...

(CBS), the population of Kuseife was 17,400 in December 2010 (10,300 in December 2006). Its annual growth rate is 3.6%. Kuseife's jurisdiction is 13,692

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...

s (~13.7 km²).

History

Prior to the establishment of Israel, the

Negev Bedouin The Negev Bedouin ( ar, بدو النقب, ''Badū an-Naqab''; he, הבדואים בנגב, ''HaBedu'im BaNegev'') are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab tribes ( Bedouin), who until the later part of the 19th century would wander between Sa ...

s were a semi-nomadic society that had been through a process of sedentariness since the Ottoman rule of the region. During the British Mandate period, the administration did not provide a legal frame to justify and preserve lands’ ownership. In order to settle this issue, Israel’s land policy was adapted to a large extent from the Ottoman land regulations of 1858 as the only preceding legal frame. Thus Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands using the state’s land regulations from 1969. Israel has continued the policy of

sedentarization In cultural anthropology, sedentism (sometimes called sedentariness; compare sedentarism) is the practice of living in one place for a long time. , the large majority of people belong to sedentary cultures. In evolutionary anthropology and ar ...

of Negev Bedouins imposed by the Ottoman authorities, and at first it included regulation and re-location - during the 1950s Israel has re-located two-thirds of the Negev Bedouins into an area that was under martial law. The next step was to establish seven townships built especially for Bedouins in order to sedentarize and urbanize them by offering them better life conditions, proper infrastructure and high quality public services in sanitation, health and education, and municipal services. But not all Bedouins agree to move from tents and structures built on the state lands into apartments. In permanent planned villages like Kuseife lives about 60% of Bedouin citizens of Israel, while the rest in illegal homes spread all over North Negev.

20th century

This area appears as Kuseife in the military administration documents starting from the 1950s. After the

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surre ...

signed between

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

, the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a ...

was returned to Egypt and all the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces *Irish Defence Forces *Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 *Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations *Israeli Diving Federation *Interaction ...

bases stationed there were removed to the Israeli territory, some of them to the

desert. One of them was a

. A township adjacent to the base appeared at the same time.

21st century

Process of

is full of hardships for any nation, since it means a harsh shift from one way of life to another - transition from wandering to permanent residence, and Bedouins whose society is based on tradition are no exception. The rate of unemployment remains high in Bedouin townships. School through age 16 is mandatory by law, but the vast majority of the population does not receive a high school education. Yet Israel's attitude towards its Bedouin citizens has always been positive. The state uses all the means at her disposal to improve the life of the Negev Bedouin community, and Kuseife is considered to be one of several flagship projects in this sense. Unlike illegal villages with scarce access to water, electricity and services, this village provides the residents with all their basic needs. And still according to the CBS data relevant to December 2009, a local council of Kuseife is ranked lowest (1 out of 10) in socio-economic standing (1 out of 10) with an average income NIS 4,331 to the national average of NIS 7,070 (2009). Only 43,4% of grade twelve students are eligible to graduate from high school (2008-2009).

Employment

Despite the fact that unemployment level among Negev Bedouins is high, there are several employment opportunities in the region. Several industrial parks are situated in the area -

Ramat Hovav Ramat Hovav ( he, רָמַת חוֹבָב), new official name Ne'ot Hovav (), is an industrial zone in southern Israel and the site of Israel's main hazardous waste disposal facility. Ramat Hovav Industrial Zone is the locus of 19 chemical fac ...

, Hura and Dimona, but the closest industrial zone to Kuseife is situated in Arad. Other job opportunities are: several chemical plants near the Dead Sea like the Dead Sea Works, different high-tech companies and textile shops. There is a number of Bedouins working in the area of service.

Entrepreneur training

There are several organizations carrying out different activities aimed at supporting and expanding entrepreneurship in Israel's South in order to further integrate the 160,000 Bedouins living in the Negev into Israel's mainstream economy. They are primarily aimed at Bedouin women.

Arab Bedouin fashion design

Twenty Arab-Bedouin women from the towns of Rahat,

Tel Sheva Tel Sheva ( he, תֵּל שֶׁבַע) or Tel as-Sabi ( ar, تل السبع) is a Bedouin town in the Southern District of Israel, bordering the city of Beersheba. In it had a population of . History The first Bedouin township in Israel, Tel ...

Segev Shalom Segev ( he, שֶׂגֶב, ''lit.'' greatness, exaltedness) may refer to the following: ;People * Dorry Segev, Israeli-born Marjory K. and Thomas Pozefsky Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Professor of Epidemiolog ...

, Kuseife and Rachma participated in a sewing course for fashion design at the Amal College in Beer Sheva, including lessons on sewing and cutting, personal empowerment and business initiatives.

Infrastructure

Medical services

There are branches of several health funds (medical clinics) in Kuseife: Leumit,

Clalit Clalit, ( he, שירותי בריאות כללית, General Health Services; previously – , General Sick Fund), is the largest of Israel's four state-mandated health service organizations, charged with administering health care services and fund ...

, Maccabi and several perinatal (baby care) centers Tipat Halav.

Education

There is a number of schools in the township and a communal activity center.

Transportation

In May 2017, a railway extension from

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

to Arad via Kuseife was approved. The line would connect to the existing

- Dimona rail line at the proposed new station at Nevatim.

References

External links

Lands of the Negev
a short film presented by Israel Land Administration describing the challenges faced in providing land management and infrastructure to the Bedouins in Israel's southern Negev region {{Authority control Arab localities in Israel Bedouin localities in Israel Local councils in Southern District (Israel) Populated places in Southern District (Israel)