Take a peek at Israel’s Bedouin community in March 9 program

How Bedouins meet the challenges of living in Israel’s Negev is the topic for the Israeli Culture Series’  March program.

The Bedouins are nomadic Arab tribes in the Middle East, many of whom live in Israel’s southern desert, the Negev. Despite disagreements with some of the Israeli government’s policies, Bedouins who live in Israel generally are known as loyal citizens whose men volunteer in Israel’s army.

In the March 9 Zoom program, Dr. Yasmeen Abu-Fraiha will discuss Bedouins in Israel’s Negev region, including the background of the communities and some of the challenges they face. She will illustrate how Bedouins are meeting these challenges by telling some of her own story, as well as the stories of some entrepreneurs and nonprofits in Bedouin communities.

Abu-Fraiha is a Bedouin doctor who specializes in internal medicine and is executive director of Rodaina, a nonprofit she founded that aims to prevent genetic diseases in the Middle East, and especially in the Bedouin community, by spearheading premarital genetic testing and matching.

Abu-Fraiha also serves on the boards of several other social projects and nonprofits that aim to improve Bedouin lives in Israel. 

The free virtual program on March 9 at 7:30 p.m., is part of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s Israeli Culture Series, which takes place on the second Wednesday of each month. The Consulate General of Israel to New England is a co-sponsor of this program.

For more information, contact Amit Moshe Oren at 401-421-4111 or AOren@jewishallianceri.org.

LARRY KATZ (lkatz@jewishallianceri.org) is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.