Speaker discusses misconceptions

Ishmael Khaldi, an Israeli Bedouin Arab, spoke Tuesday night in the University Student Commons about life as a minority in Israel.

The event was sponsored by VCU’s Commonwealth Students for Israel as well as Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish brotherhood that freshman Steven Flick said aims to increase Jewish activity through social and educational means.

A native of northern Israel, Khaldi is a Bedouin, a traditionally nomadic population that makes up a minority within the Arab minority. Israel, he said, is currently trying to integrate Bedouin Arabs successfully into Israeli society, but there is friction.

Through his lectures, Khaldi said he hopes to dispel misconceptions about the situation.

“I feel there is a lack of understanding of what is really being portrayed,” he said. “People in the U.S. really don’t know.”

Khaldi’s speech reflected on the idea that the integration is not a fight between Jews and Arabs, or between Muslims and Jews, like the media often portray. Instead, it is an attempt to make an alliance and find harmony between people.

Bedouins, he said, don’t try to occupy territory, rather they are migratory people who make alliances with area inhabitants. In the case of the Bedouin people in Israel, Khaldi said the problems arising during the integration are not being handled correctly.

Since Bedouins are non-Jewish people integrating into a Jewish nation, some sacrifices will have to be made for peaceful integration, most likely on the side of the Bedouins, he said.

“The biggest problem is this – being traditional, being conservative. Bedouins used to be shepherds,” he said. “A shepherd cannot be turned into a mechanical engineer.”

Contradictions between Bedouin and Israeli traditions inhibit the integration, Khaldi said. In his view, modernity is corrupting the Bedouin heritage. Conflicts exist within family structures of the two cultures. Traditionally Bedouin children don’t attend school because of their culture’s migratory nature. Khaldi, a Muslim, said women generally give birth and raise children, while men bring home the money and support their families.

“More and more women will have rights, because the world is more open, and you can’t isolate yourself from the world forever,” Khaldi said.

He also said the amount of exposure to modernity has already changed his lifestyle despite strong dedication to his religion.

“Being part of Israel and (the) modern world, it is hard to see my family,” he said.

Khaldi raised the question of whether a Muslim can live in Israel and be part of society. People often ask him why he served in the military.

“The military, they know what the media brings – you wear that uniform, you are Israeli, but you still have your backgrounds,” he said.

Zachary Mikkelson, a freshman who attended the lecture, said, “I didn’t know much about Israel before, but I learned a lot about Israel’s situation and education program as well.”

Khaldi joked he has kept his tradition as a Nomad by traveling the world giving lectures.

At the end of his lecture, Khaldi offered words of wisdom to the audience.

“When you suffer, never give up. You will succeed.”