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Muslim Arab Bedouins Serve as Jewish State's Gatekeepers
(AFP-Al Arabiya) Lt.-Col. Magdi Mazarib, a Bedouin Muslim Arab who grew up in northern Israel, is the Israeli army's highest-ranking tracker. He commands a small unit of Bedouin soldiers who use their field craft skills to serve as the Jewish state's gatekeepers. "This is our country," he states in perfect Hebrew with a light Arabic accent. Israel's Jewish symbols do not perturb Mazarib. "The flag of England also has a cross on it, and the Jews there are fine with it," he says during a tour of the Bedouin Heritage Center which houses a memorial to the 182 Bedouin killed fighting for Israel. He believes that his fellow Bedouin across the Middle East are even envious of the way those in Israel live. "The state of Bedouin in Israel is better, as far as the respect we get, our progress, education," he says. "It's a different league." Cooperation between the Jewish people and Bedouin tribes began before Israel became a state in 1948, when the northern tribes sided with the Jews, whom they believed would win the war against the Arabs. The army says that although they are not required to do military service, there are 1,655 Bedouin on active duty.