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Israeli Bedouin Policewoman Blazing Trail
(Al-Monitor) Shlomi Eldar - On Nov. 21, Israel dedicated new police stations in the Arab villages of Jisr az-Zarqa and Kafr Kanna. Four days later, a short video on Facebook showed Sabrin Saadi, a young policewoman from the Bedouin village of Basmat Tabun, making her way to the Kafr Kanna station in her uniform wearing a hijab, walking past a group of Arab demonstrators. Saadi's father, Ali Saadi, said, "We are part of this society, so we should serve it. The people attacking her are a gang of wild kids with nothing better to do with their lives. They should go find themselves and think about what, if anything, they have actually done on behalf of their community." The decision to establish police stations in Arab localities is in response to soaring levels of violence in the Arab sector, the extensive stockpiling of arms in the community, and calls by local authorities to show greater resolve in policing and enforcing the law. For example, Ha'aretz reported Nov. 29 that gun battles take place every night in the Arab village of Salem. Children are put to sleep in bathrooms to be spared the incessant gunfire outside. Mohammad Kabiya, from the Bedouin village of Kaabiyye, who enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, is a friend of Saadi. He promises he will not allow groups led by the Islamic Movement to hurt her or other young people who follow her example. Addressing Arab public figures who advocate extremism, Kabiya wrote on Facebook: "Your time is up. The new generation that has grown up sees the truth and feels a sense of belonging and identification. It understands the mood in the community much better than you and realizes that many of the problems facing Arab society are the result of those slogans, lies, and conspiracy theories that you have been peddling to us to benefit yourselves."