Wild West of the Middle East: How Palestinians and Bedouins survive on the West Bank

The families from al-Mu‘arrajat first moved to a plot south of Jericho, where there was water, electricity, and a school nearby. But Aliya says that as soon as the Bedouins set up camp there, settlers arrived and began driving them out. According to Aliya, the military arrived very quickly, telling the victims: “You have four hours to leave this place. After that, we will leave, and there will be no one to protect you.” Aliya’s family moved again, this time to Zone A beyond Jericho, a place with no access to clean water or schools.

The local Palestinian authorities are unhappy about the Bedouins relocating to their territory. Aliya says her family spent all their savings building a sheep pen and buying feed, since there is nowhere to graze their livestock. Her parents began constructing a house, but they ran out of money and now live in a tent. The land around Jericho is Waqf, and no one wants to see Bedouins from Zone C there. Both the Palestinian and the Israeli authorities are urging them to return to al-Mu‘arrajat.

On July 25, 2025, the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice (Bagatz) issued a ruling on a lawsuit filed by the residents of al-Mu‘arrajat against the IDF, the police, the Ministry of Defense, and other defendants, whom the Bedouins accused of being responsible for their forced displacement. The Bagatz ruling stated that the defendants did not object to the Bedouins returning to their homes. Therefore, “within the next seven days and in accordance with the security situation, the plaintiffs must coordinate with the army regarding their return to the village.”

The court also recommended that the defendants declare the village a closed area to Israelis. Following the ruling, some villagers returned to al-Mu‘arrajat on Aug. 2, accompanied by Israeli volunteers and the army. At around 11:00 p.m., according to detailed accounts from the volunteers, the last army jeep left the village. Twenty minutes later, settlers arrived and set houses on fire. At 1:00 a.m., the Bedouins left the village for good.

After Oct. 7, 2023, settlers drove out dozens of Bedouin villages in Zone C. The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem (Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) maintains a registry of communities that have been fully or partially displaced.

In the last relatively large Bedouin village in the Jordan Valley, Ras 'Ein al 'Auja, volunteers now stand watch around the clock. On a hill a few hundred meters from the village sits a “farm” whose residents are trying to force the Bedouins of Ras 'Ein al 'Auja to leave as well. So far, there have been no cases of serious violence (only livestock theft).

As we enter the village, we immediately see an ATV carrying people with scarves covering their faces. The ATV speeds toward our car, forcing us off the road. Behind it walks a shepherd from a Jewish farm, trying to drive a herd of goats right through the village. The village goats and sheep are all in pens, and residents are waiting for the settlers to leave. Volunteers try to stop the shepherd and remind him that he is only allowed to graze his herd at a distance of no less than 30 meters from Bedouin structures. The police arrive, persuade the shepherd to move the herd to the required distance, and photograph the volunteers’ documents. Among the volunteers are foreigners, who fear this could result in either deportation or a ban on entering the country.