Summary
A Jewish Israeli official who served as appointed Rosh Ha’Moatzah of the Masos Regional Council from 1988 until its dissolution in 1996, and is quoted extensively in Settling for Less — The Planned Resettlement of Israel’s Negev Bedouin as both state functionary and presumed Bedouin advocate (PDF p.71-72).
Details
- Sagie lives on a moshav north of Qiryat Gat; after Masos he worked in the Ministry of the Interior as an official, and by 2007 in its Southern District as Coordinator of Building and Development (PDF p.71, 81).
- Interviewed on 24 March 2007, he conceded Dinero’s argument on Segev Shalom: the Azazmeh do not move there because they think they are losing, since living alone with the extended family is preferable to living with others, which invites troubles (PDF p.58-59).
- Interviewed on 16 November 1992, he said economic problems are worse in town than in the Pezurah — electricity, water and local taxes all cost money, and children want what other children have — so families wait to come to Segev Shalom (PDF p.72).
- Years after his tenure, a young male respondent to the 2007 survey remembered his leadership favourably against the town’s later leadership, saying that with the Jewish mayor, if there was no improvement it was obvious and he would put his whole soul into trying (PDF p.72-73).
- He praised Segev Shalom’s sound fiscal practices under both Abu-Mu’amar and El-Harumi, noting a salary had never gone unpaid there (24 March 2007) (PDF p.81).
- Interviewed again on 24 March 2007 for Chapter 8, he argued the town’s proximity to Be’er Sheva cuts both ways and proposed a Shabbat bedouin shuk in Segev Shalom, which Jews are less afraid to visit than other bedouin settlements — an advantage, he said, residents have not yet taken: “In the other settlements in the area they don’t have very good reputations. If you are in Be’er Sheva, would you go to Tel Sheva? You wouldn’t because it has a bad reputation. In Segev Shalom, there’s a better reputation, from the perspective of the Jews, I mean.” (PDF p.223-224).
Related pages
Settling for Less — The Planned Resettlement of Israel’s Negev Bedouin, Segev Shalom, Masos Regional Council, Amir Abu-Mu’amar, Saeed El-Harumi