In person, 23-year-old Masad Armilat is a slight young man, a little shy, and in his black jeans and black T-shirt seems more than a bit uncomfortable with the attention given to him and others on February 12 at a special tribute to 13 Bedouin heroes who risked their lives to rescue fellow Israelis in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Armilat had rushed out from the gas station store in Sderot where he was working in the early morning of that tragic day to the main road and gathered 14 wounded people into the store’s bomb shelter. Then, under immense emotional pressure, he had the wherewithal to think of placing helium tanks used for balloons next to the locked door so that if the terrorists shot at the door, the tanks would explode on them. When the terrorists saw the helium tanks as they tried to break into the store, they left.How did he feel about being honored?
“I don’t know. I am very surprised. It is nice to see people appreciating what I did,” he offered self-consciously. “We are all one country. The religion is not important, and we should be united so that we can continue having a good life for everybody.”Avi Benlolo, founding chairman and CEO of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative – a Canadian NGO promoting tolerance, freedom, democracy and human rights – spearheaded the tribute hosted by Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion Museum. He said that after he visited some Bedouin families and learned of what they had done, he was inspired to recognize their acts of heroism saving lives as a way to highlight the diversity of Israeli society at a time when outside groups are condemning Israel for apartheid.
At the same time, he was hopeful that spotlighting the role of the Bedouin community during the Oct. 7 massacre would also help “put pressure on Israeli society to recognize their Bedouin brethren, who do not want to be marginalized,” Benlolo said.“There were selfless acts of heroism, of valor,” he said in his remarks at the ceremony. “They went into the Supernova party and rescued people. There are wounded IDF [soldiers], hostages, many lost family members. It is so important for Israeli society and the Diaspora to recognize that effort: This is a start.”The ceremony was attended by former president Reuven Rivlin; Shin Bet Director Avi Dichter; former head of the IDF Northern Command Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Peled; and MK Alon Schuster, a former longtime mayor of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council.
SOME 400,000 Bedouin live in the Negev in an area extending from Beersheba to Arad. This includes an estimated 100,000 living in unrecognized villages that are not connected to Israel’s electric grid, the Mekorot national water company, or sewage systems. There are no paved roads or school infrastructure; many live with the threat of demolition orders against structures in all Bedouin communities built without permits – because permits are impossible to obtain.In addition to the 5% budget cut across the board proposed in light of the war that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has suggested, he has also called for a 15% budget cut for Arab society.Yuval Turgeman, director of the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, said that one of the first to arrive on the scene when Turgeman was wounded while fighting terrorists in Ofakim was Anir Abu Dabes, an MDA medic from Rahat who rushed to save lives while under fire.
Bedouin communities have paid a price since Oct. 7
The Bedouin have paid a heavy price since Oct. 7. He said: 21 were killed in the initial Hamas attack; six were taken hostage – two of whom were released during the ceasefire in November, and one, Samer al-Talalka, was accidentally killed along with two other Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers mistaking them for terrorists as they tried to escape. Many Bedouin soldiers have also fallen in this and other wars Israel has been forced to fight.
Abu Dabes, who was accompanied by his wife, Rozana El Hozeel, said his responsibility as an MDA medic during the massacre helped keep him focused on saving lives despite the atrocities that he witnessed, which still traumatize him.“This ceremony [shows] the connection among all sectors and peoples of Israeli society,” he said. “I think that after all the horror and death we have experienced, we will be more united.”Minibus driver Yousef Ziadna, who rescued some 30 young people from the Supernova music festival at Kibbutz Re’im, said the images of that day are still seared in his memory, and he had nevertheless gone back to the site of the party.“I still am not sleeping well at night, and any noise that sounds like shooting makes me tense,” said Ziadna, who lost a family member in the Hamas attack and has two family members still being held hostage in Gaza. “I tried for three weeks not to go to therapy, but I think I have to go back.”He said that while the ceremony makes him feel like the state is paying respect to the Bedouins’ acts of bravery, he hopes that this will also be transformed into some practical actions so that they will not be forgotten months from now.
Sami Alkrenawi, whose relatives were being honored at the ceremony, said it was important for people to hear the stories of bravery, and how people can love each other and die for each other.Cousins Dahesh, Ismail, Hamed, and Rafi Alkrenawi rescued some 40 young people from the Supernova festival as they made their way to nearby Kibbutz Be’eri to rescue from the terrorists a family member who was working there, along with a kibbutz member.“Write this down,” said Dahesh: “This is very important for people to know: What happened there is not the Muslim religion. The Quran, our religion, our tradition, asks from us to help people, whether they are Jews or Arabs. This is not our religion that asks them to do this. These were drugged people – they didn’t differentiate between Jews or Muslims.”Because of the terrorists’ knowledge of the back roads of the kibbutzim as agricultural workers, they were able to escape, he said. But he doesn’t talk about the atrocities he saw that day.A video describing the rescue incident was later produced and posted by the Israeli nonprofit Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? that promotes Jewish-Arab political partnership.As employees of the kibbutzim, Dahesh’s family knew many of the victims of the massacre, he said, adding that he attended 25 funerals and continues to visit his friends where they have been displaced to hotels in Eilat and the Dead Sea.“We thank the people for giving us this respect. There is only one thing I want to say, and it is important: We don’t have another country, neither Jews nor Bedouins, and I hope very much that we will be partners in the future,” Dahesh said, tears welling in his eyes as he wished a speedy recovery to all the wounded and a quick return of all the hostages.“I hope people will not forget” us and what we did “and that there will be advances for Bedouin society, starting in education,” he concluded. “I believe there will be because we are all living in the same country.”