The Naqab Bedouins

The Naqab Bedouins represents the first attempt to chronicle Bedouin history and politics across the last century, including the Ottoman era, the British Mandate, Israeli military rule, and the contemporary schema, and document its broader relevance to understanding state-minority relations in the region and beyond.

Mansour Nasasra is lecturer in Middle East politics and international relations at the Department of Politics and Government, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Nasasra has taught at the University of Exeter, Plymouth University, and the Hebrew University. He was a research fellow at the Council for British Research in the Levant and has been a recipient of British Academy grants. Nasasra is coeditor of The Naqab Bedouin and Colonialism: New Perspectives (2015).

Larbi Sadiki, Qatar University:
A book like no other. Nasasra tells the riveting story of the Palestinian Bedouins of the Naqab and Bi?r al-Saba? from the late Ottoman era until today, opening up a new vista for understanding the place of indigeneity in the Middle East and highlighting resistance and power relations that shadow the lives of the Naqab Bedouins. Particularly strong is his discussion on indigeneity scholarship in reference to international law. Nasasra has not just written a book on Bedouins—he has given a voice to the most marginalized among the Palestinians in Israel.

Yezid Sayigh, senior fellow, Carnegie Middle East Center:
What makes Nasasra's study of the Bedouins in Israel especially interesting is the close parallel with the experience of Bedouin communities throughout the Middle East. Refreshingly, he avoids romanticizing the Bedouins while focusing on their resistance as an indigenous people to policies that are, in effect, if not always in design, anti-nomadic. His comparative, historicized approach, moreover, offers an intriguing entry to wider debates about different forms of nationalism and identity in Arab societies.

Lila Abu-Lughod, Joseph L. Buttenweiser Professor of Social Science, Columbia University:
In The Naqab Bedouins, Nasasra uncovers marvelous material that illuminates the history of the Bedouins of southern Palestine and challenges prevailing understandings of their politics and social experiences. The long historical perspective that takes us from Ottoman times to the present relies on Nasasra's prodigious original research and superb documentation to present a comprehensive and detailed picture of this Bedouin community struggling against state power.