Think of the people kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 and you might see a collage of faces. They are young, old, men with and without beards, women, boys, girls. And whatever passports they hold, they might well be Jewish.What might be less likely is that they are Muslim, Arab, Bedouin.The reality is that Ali Ziadna's family suffered that day like so many others across southern Israel, where some 1,200 people were killed and 251 more were taken hostage.
They may not be what first comes to mind when thinking of the largely Jewish State, but they—along with the Druze and other Israeli Arabs—are full citizens of Israel. The Bedouin serve in Israel's military, mostly as trackers. The Druze also serve, although most of the Arabs who make up a fifth of Israel's population do not.But, as Ziadna's camp showed, whatever their official status, the true situation is more complex.