Bedouin Petitions from Late Ottoman Palestine: Evaluating the Effects of Sedentarization

What is it about?

This article examines petitions sent to Istanbul at the end of the nineteenth century by Bedouin groups from the kazas (subdistricts) of Jaffa and Gaza, on Palestine’s central and southern coast. The Bedouins’ use of the petition process shows that many of them, especially those who had gone through a process of sedentarization, played according to the rules prevailing among the urban and rural populations in their vicinity. Their petitions also demonstrate vividly the extent to which they were involved in city politics and social life. Bedouins confidently put forward claims to landownership based on their own legal interpretation of their rights and, at times, even adopted the dominant discourse on good governance.

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Why is it important?

Dozens of Bedouin petitions from the regions of Gaza and Jaffa from the period discussed here have been found in the Ottoman archives in Istanbul, thus suggesting that various Bedouin groups did not believe it was pointless to contact the imperial center, perhaps in addition to taking other steps such as applying to local courts, administrative councils, and the like. A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the petitions so far found, most approaches to Istanbul by Bedouin in the Jaffa and Gaza regions were submitted by sedentary Bedouin, whose petitioning patterns resembled those of the regular settled rural population. Although they had unique problems of their own, such as not possessing title deeds for the land which they occupied, these Bedouin were nevertheless playing by the rules that prevailed among the urban and rural population in their area. What is clear from the petitions is the extent to which Bedouin were enmeshed in city politics—more in the Gaza region than near Jaffa. They maintained social and political ties with the surrounding population, despite the conflicts often described in the literature, which also appear in petitions. In Gaza, Bedouin groups came under the influence of leading urban families, who often led rival coalitions. Bedouin thus found themselves thrust into existing conflicts, to the dismay of opposing groups, who denounced their rivals’ connections with the Bedouin. Moreover, as was the case with all petitions, the organization and submission of the Bedouin petitions took place in the urban centers and involved approaching the arzuhalcis, signing mass petitions, sending the petitions from the telegraph and post offices, and paying for them. The Bedouin used intermediaries to submit petitions on their behalf which shows a certain degree of political savvy, connections, agency, and effective maneuvering. As far as we can tell, the Bedouin petitions were handled much like other petitions. This usually meant that their approaches were received in Istanbul and at least processed by the administration, which, for the most part, then referred the issue to Jerusalem with a request to investigate the matter.