Perspective of Bedouin women highlighted in Tel Aviv photo-exhibit
The photos will give the Bedouin women an opportunity to showcase and present their perspective to the greater public, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA pupil is pictured at Desert Stars School near the Bedouin city of Rahat in Israel's southern Negev Desert September 12, 2017. Picture taken September 12, 2017.(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)A new - virtual - photography exhibit in Tel Aviv presents the life of Arab Bedouin women from unrecognized villages in the Naqab (Negev Desert) from their own point of view – from their own camera lens.Titled The exhibition of Life and Resilience As Captured by Bedouin Women, the exhibit will feature a collection of photographs taken of these women over the past few years, to bring light to their struggle for "recognition, human rights and dignity, representing social, political, and gender-related issues that indigenous people worldwide must face."It is estimated that over 90,000 Israeli citizens live in unrecognized villages. Bedouin tribes living in such villages are subject to home demolitions and evictions – even though they are maintained as a population of nomadic people.In November, the IDF took down most of a Bedouin village in the West Bank. At the time, COGAT, Israel's military liaison agency with the Palestinians, maintained that the structures were illegal.The photos will give the Bedouin women an opportunity to showcase and present their perspective to the greater public, even amid the coronavirus pandemic."People want security, for themselves and for their children, and this requires adequate policing, but also a wide range of policies," said the EU Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret, alluding to a conference to be held by the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality on Monday. "The topic of today’s conference is education, which must underpin all efforts to promote safer, more cohesive societies and to reduce inequalities."Education is one of the main tools in the fight against organized crime and youth delinquency," he added. "Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has put to the test the ability to realize human rights. At the same time, it highlights the need for strengthened cooperation and solidarity to promote human rights and strive for more inclusive societies."The photo-exhibit is online only, and can be viewed here.Zachary Keyser and Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.
