Joel Gibson;27/9/08
Australia’s native title laws are providing inspiration for indigenous claims in one of the most contested places on earth. Israel’s Bedouin people are preparing a landmark test case on behalf of a traditional landowner and have engaged an Australian expert on native title compensation to advise how the success of the late Eddie Mabo can be replicated in the Negev Desert. John Sheehan, an adjunct professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, and former president of the NSW division of the Australian Property Institute, travelled to Israel this month to assist in the formulation of the claim, which will be the first of its kind in Israel. He said the plight of the Bedouins, a semi-nomadic people who have travelled the desert regions of southern Israel since before Ottoman and British rule, was “virtually identical” to that of indigenous people before the High Court’s historic Mabo decision found native title persisted in Australia.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/national/mabo-native-title-laws-inspire-bedouin-claims-20090626-czvh.html
Tags: Australia, Bedouin, Human Rights, Israel