A column about Israel in the Star of June 17, 2025 states: "Jewish settlers inventively converted arid deserts, which nomadic and relatively unproductive Arab inhabitants had let lay fallow...." This superior colonialist attitude is familiar to Native Americans and may explain some of the difficult relations in the Mideast region.
Arab Bedouins coexisted with harsh deserts for centuries as nomads navigating by the stars. Ottoman Turks and British forced many Negev Desert Bedouins to give up their nomadic lifestyle. Then Israel seized their territory and relocated them.
Egyptian musician Hossam Ramzy speaks in his introduction to his DVD, Bedouin Tribal Dance, of Egyptian Bedouins "maintaining their ancient knowledge that many of us in the so-called "modern world" have forgotten. These Bedouins are in touch with Earth, nature and the stars." Will Israel and our modern world learn to live sustainably and still exist after multiple centuries? Do not underestimate the cultures and knowledge of indigenous people.
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Ronald Pelech
Midtown
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