The Bedouin are a substantial, unrepresented & suppressed minority in Israel (numbering 220,000 people). British Shalom Salaam Trust with Israel Social TV will produce short video articles for a global audience on Myths and Facts concerning the Bedouin. We aim to cover women's & girls' rights; water rights; human & legal rights; media representation; & house demolitions. Working with Bedouin groups, we aim to show the reality of Bedouin life and give the Bedouin the stage to represent themselves
The Bedouin community in Israel suffers from discrimination and strong stigma in Israel. This stigma allows Israeli institutions to deny the Bedouin housing and land rights (which includes frequent house demolitions), access to water, sanitation, transportation, education and more. The media stands firmly at the side of the Israeli police, military and formal institutions and does not give appropriate representation to the Bedouins, tending to depict the entire population as outlaws.
This project aims to empower the Bedouin; they will have the microphone and camera to break the myths and stigma about their population and shed light on their struggles. The information this project will create will lead to the much needed representation and empathy in Israel and around the world to their plight. This exposure will allow them and us to fight for their rights and break the barriers that have arisen from deep misrepresentation and myths that are standing in their way.
This project aims to garner media attention and representation for the Bedouin, and, in the longer term, contribute to changing the way in which the Bedouin are represented. The video articles, which will be in Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles, will be globally disseminated. Through the making of the video articles, we aim to bring together Bedouin community groups and NGOs with which we have worked in the past, and thereby foster a better network between Bedouin organisations.
