Acknowledgments
First, I wish to thank the Bedouin poets and rhymists whose political poetry, composed from the late nineteenth century through the late twentieth century, is the focus of this book. The verses that this book seeks to understand, and with the aid of which to understand the history of Negev Bedouin, were born in their souls and emerged into the world through their mouths, and had they not had the power to create and the urge to recite poems, this book would not have been written. Had poetry enthusiasts from among the Negev tribes not safeguarded some of these poems in their hearts and minds, poems composed even decades before they were recited, it would not have been possible to reconstruct important chapters in the history of this highly venerated tradition, and I am therefore indebted to them as well. It was Sasson Bar-Zvi, one of the foremost scholars of Bedouin society in the Negev, who labored, skillfully, judiciously, and with exemplary perseverance, to ensure that the poetic heritage of the Negev Bedouin not be forgotten. This book is based on his tremendous work compiling poems and on his in-depth familiarity with Bedouin culture. Bar-Zvi’s dedication to Bedouin poetry is what made it possible to write this book, which certainly would not have been written without that dedication. I am grateful, as well, to his son Dudy, who granted my colleagues and me the privilege of exploring Bar-Zvi’s collection and in effect continuing his father’s work.
The first colleague I wish to mention is Uri Mintzker, an anthropologist of Negev Bedouin society, who maintained contact with Sasson Bar-Zvi and whom the latter’s son Dudy entrusted with material collected and processed by his father. In 2017, under the auspices of the Center for Israel Studies at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel & Zionism, in Sede Boqer, I established a research group dedicated to the study of Negev Bedouin poetry, drawing on the poems collected by Bar-Zvi. Alongside Uri, I was joined by three geographers who specialize in Negev Bedouin – Havatzelet Yahel, Emir Galilee and Arnon Ben-Israel. To my great delight another three researchers agreed to join the group – gender researcher Ebtesam Barakat and Israel and Middle East researchers Arnon Degani and Lior Lavid. We were then joined by linguist Musa Shawarba, a scholar of Bedouin dialects. Over the course of two years we jointly studied Bar-Zvi’s collection, with each of us looking at it from a distinct disciplinary perspective and focusing on poems that give voice to our unique, individual points of view. The multiplicity of perspectives and worldviews made this research group an outstanding intellectual incubator, for which I am most grateful to my friends.
I must also thank my colleagues on the staff of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for their continuous encouragement and support, and especially Adi Portughies, Head of Infrastructure Information Systems, who knowledgeably oversaw the work of scanning the collection, and librarian Yefim Magarill, for his generous and professional assistance. Special thanks are due to my Bedouin friends and acquaintances who agreed to help me in the nearly impossible mission of uncovering the fate of a number of the important poets who were active in the Negev in the twentieth century. There is still much work to be done in this area. I wish to mention the names of Jabr, son of the poet Slīmān Ibn ʿEdēsān, who, with remarkable clarity, still remembers some of the poems composed by his father, and the poet’s grandson, Salāmeh – both of whom were most generous and patient in lending me a hand. Generosity and patience, in addition to a treasure trove of knowledge, also describe what I received over the years from renowned scholar of Bedouin society Gideon Kressel, and I wish to thank him warmly for this. I was most fortunate in also being able to acquire a bit of knowledge from Emanuel Marx, whose pioneering work illuminated the way for me in the field of Bedouin society and culture, and I am beholden to him for this. I am most grateful to the staff at Brill Publishing, Maurits van den Boogert, Teddi Dols, and Pieter te Velde, who strove with dedication and diligence to produce this book. Last but not least in the sequence of acknowledgments are my wife Avigail, my daughters Asael and Ahinoam, and my son Shilo, whom I love and adore. They are, to borrow the words of the poet al- Mutanabbī, the best companions for all times.
The book is dedicated to my grandmothers: to my mother’s mother, Bracha Herison (née Boschan) (1901–1995), who did a remarkable job of raising seven children (alongside her husband until the 1948 war) and was always close to my sisters, my brother and me and present in our lives, funny and invincible, and to my father’s mother, Rivka Irén Polacsek (née Bein) (1911–1939), who was briefly able to experience life as a wife and a mother to four wonderful sons, until – fortunately for her, as her mother put it – she left this world before its skies darkened. She too was present in our lives, in a completely different way, through the stories my father told.