by photographer Ahikam Seri
2003 FiftyCrows PhotoFund Winner - Middle East Region

In Bedouin Society Transition, Ahikam Seri brings to center stage an Israeli tribal culture that has been perpetually marginalized, displaced, and banished within their own country for much of this century. Bedouin societies of southern Israel's Negev Desert have endured, and continue to endure, hardships brought on by a long history of military rule by the Turkish, British, and now Israeli. Over the years, these regimes have forced nearly 90,000 Bedouins into nomadism and exile, fleeing mainly to Egypt and Jordan. Of the remaining populations, some have been ushered into state-implemented Bedouin towns, while others have refused to evacuate their historical land and face the brunt of governmental disregard and consequently, a lack of the most basic infrastructures- water, electricity, sewage, health care, roads, and schools.

The Bedouin's growing solidarity with Palestinian uprisings on the basis of religion (Islam) and socio-economic conditions has intensified the Bedouin-State conflict at a time when the Israeli-Arab debate is most pronounced. Ahikam Seri's intent is to bring much-needed exposure to these societies as they teeter on the brink of ruin. Ultimately, Seri's effort is in the same vein as that of the Bedouins themselves: to preserve and bring justice to this singularly unique culture.

Watch FiftyCrows Media movie