This article is based on over a decade of field research among Bedouin tribes of the Negev as well as historical and geographical research. Its central argument is that the main social, cultural, and geographical processes within the Negev Bedouin groups are impacted by three major forces: nomadism and the social structure; formal Islam; and the rise of the modern state. This argument is illustrated by the geographical concept of “mental maps”, and its various manifestations in Bedouin society. The article focuses on the historical developments of the twentieth century, which took place alongside the rise of the Zionist movement and the establishment of the State of Israel.
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