Tel Sheva
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  Tel Sheva Location of Tel as-Sabi in Israel Show map of Northern Negev region of Israel Tel Sheva Tel Sheva (Israel) Show map of Israel | |
| Coordinates:31°14′48″N34°51′22″E / 31.24667°N 34.85611°E /31.24667; 34.85611 | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Southern |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Musa Abu Isa[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,000dunams (5.0 km2; 1.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | |
• Total | 24,195 |
| • Density | 4,800/km2 (13,000/sq mi) |
Tel Sheva (Hebrew:תֵּל שֶׁבַע) orTel as-Sabi (Arabic:تل السبع) is aBedouintown in theSouthern District ofIsrael, bordering the city ofBeersheba. In 2023, it had a population of 24,195.[2]
The first Bedouintownship in Israel, Tel as-Sabi, was founded in 1967[3] as part of a government project to settle Bedouins in permanent settlements and became alocal council in 1984. It is one of seven Bedouin townships in theNegev desert with approved plans and developed infrastructure.[4]TheNegev Bedouin, a semi-nomadic society, has been going through a process ofsedentarization since the latter part ofOttoman rule in the region.[citation needed]During theBritish Mandate period, the administration did not provide a legal framework to justify and preserve land ownership. To settle this issue, Israel's land policy was adapted to a large extent from the Ottoman land regulations of 1858, the only prior legal framework. Thus, Israel nationalized most of the Negev lands using the state's land regulations from 1969.[citation needed]
Israel has continued the policy of sedentarization of the Negev Bedouins, first imposed by the Ottoman authorities. Israel's measures at first included regulation and relocation. During the 1950s, Israel relocated two-thirds of the Negev Bedouins into areas administered under martial law.[citation needed] Later on, seven townships were built especially for Bedouins in order to sedentarize andurbanize them by offering better life conditions, proper infrastructure, and high-quality public services, such as sanitation, health, education, and municipal services. The other six townships built during that time areHura,Lakiya,Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev),Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom),Kuseife (Kseife), and the city ofRahat, the largest among them.
Not all Bedouins agreed to move from tents and structures built on state lands into apartments built specifically for them. About 60% of the Bedouin citizens of Israel live in permanent, planned villages like Tel as-Sabi, while the rest live in illegal homes spread all over the northern Negev region.[5]
As Tel as-Sabi was the first Bedouin township in Israel, mistakes were made by planners and government officials.[3] The authorities tried to learn from these mistakes while planning and building other Bedouin villages and towns, creating, for example, more urban than rural environments.[3]
In 2000, the town was ranked lowest (1 out of 10) in socio-economic standing, and only 43 percent of twelfth-grade students were eligible to graduate from high school.
According to theIsrael Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the population of Tel as-Sabi was 13,000 in December 2005[citation needed] and 15,700 in December 2010.[6] Tel as-Sabi's jurisdiction measures 5,000dunams (5 km2).
Several industrial parks are situated in the area -Ramat Hovav,Hura, but the closest industrial zone to Tel as-Sabi is situated inBeersheba. There are several organizations carrying out different activities aimed at supporting and expanding entrepreneurship in Israel's South, thereby further integrating the 160,000 Bedouins living in the Negev into Israel's mainstream economy. They are primarily aimed atBedouin women.
Twenty Arab-Bedouin women participated in a sewing course for fashion design at the Amal College in Beersheba, including lessons on sewing and cutting, personal empowerment, and business initiatives.[7] Several Bedouin women have undergone professional botanical training and established a business producing a range of unique skin care products based on traditional Bedouin herbal medicine.[8] Their products include cosmetic and dermatological lotions, creams, and ointments.[9] Their products are manufactured at the laboratories of Hlavin, an international cosmetics manufacturer and exporter in Ra’anana.[10]
Hapoel Tel Sheva is a football team based in Tel as-Sabi, a member of theIsrael Football Association.[11]
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