Bedouins from the south of Israel on Thursday issued a petition to the High Court of Justice requesting they allocate herding land for their flocks for the present shepherding season. The petitioners have stated that this year they still have not received pasture land to herd even one sheep in all of the Negev.

The petition was issued by the Council of Unrecognized Villages in collaboration with the Israel Religious Action Center and two sheepherders from the southern Negev, and is directed against Defense Minister Amir Peretz, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon (Labor), and heads of the Israel Land Authority.

The petitioners have argued that in most pasturing seasons, Bedouin shepherds are allowed to graze their sheep on IDF firing zones due to their dearth of guaranteed herding land. This is in spite of the fact that most Jewish shepherds receive pasture land rights on a guaranteed basis.

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At the end of each May, the shepherds move their flocks to graze on kibbutz fields and begin counting the size of their flock in coordination with area farmers. After the herding season is over, the shepherds have to then go back to worrying about how they will be able to feed their flocks for the rest of the year. According to the petitioners, the situation is most dire in years where is little precipitation.

According to the petitioners, grazing pastures were not allocated for all of the 300,000 head of sheep in Israel. Two shepherds have argued that the pastures they were previously given annually have since been taken and allocated elsewhere.

The Agriculture Ministry maintains that the reality is quite different. Sources at the ministry have stated that this year they have allocated grazing land across the board, covering 120,000 head of sheep. The sources added that the petition could be merely an attempt on the part of the petitioners to get the grazing lands expanded.