European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 5, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Bedouins and their camels by James Lemoyne new York times american troops swill Gallons of water and barely move under camouflage netting that shelters them from harsh saudi Sun. Many a Soldier has compared place to hell. But for Marzouq Oraibi those Sands Are As close to heaven As Man can Hope to be in this narrow earthly life. Offering dates and a foaming Saucer of fresh camels milk to Welcome a visitor bedouin Shepherd tucked his Bare feet beneath him in Cool Shade of his White Cotton tent and spoke of pleasure of living with his camels sky and wind carved Sands. Quot i come Here so As not to be in a City Quot he said speaking through a translator As two other shepherds nodded in agreement. Quot Here we go to visit neighbors and if they Are no Good we move on Quot Oraibi added. Quot no bother no houses no traffic no noise. Just peace of his description might serve As bedouin version of a saudi Arcadian pastoral a yearning for empty spaces and god made quiet that Oraibi who is Quot about 51 or 52 years old Quot said he cherishes and needs today More than Ever. But he then gestured to Sands and chuckled beneath his red Check ered Kaffayeh As he conceded that his peace is now guarded by several thousand american troops encamped nearby on a decidedly Industrial assortment of noisy fume exuding armoured killing machines. A equipment moving at night sometimes upsets camels Quot he said. Quot but really they done to bother us too it. Col. Bill Engel commander of an american artillery unit deployed nearby said bedouins have come to Tell him Quot All this land is theirs but that we Are Welcome to use it so Long As we done to Hurt camels and their other pressed further on their own feelings about having an american mechanized division mane vering in their Dusty backyard Oraibi and his companions insisted they Are relieved americans have come. But they added they had been assured by saudi government that american stay is temporary. These shepherds made it Clear they want american help but they also want this foreign army to leave when fighting is Over. Quot big has swallowed Small. Iraq has taken Kuwait Quot Oraibi declared. Quot americans Are needed now to help us. And when time comes to go they will mamas Oraibi a Kinsman of Marzouq and a fellow Shepherd agreed. Quot America is like saudi Arabia Quot he said. Quot like a Good Man they follow straight line and do no masters of arabian dunes Zig Zag. They Are our ally against Iraq which is godless and an it was a Brief statement but like a dozen other signs to be seen there it marked Radical changes that have come to Region and to those desert nomads last remnants of a recent past that is already archaic. On arabian Peninsula bedouins were until a few decades ago traditional nomads living in tribes in desert and moving by Camei As need took them. The Peninsula also included ancient Urban centers such As Mecca and Medina whose residents have Long regarded those who choose to remain in tents As Little More than rustic peasants. Quot Here we go to visit neighbors and if they Are no Good we move on. No bother no houses no traffic no noise. Just peace of Marzouq Oraibi bedouin Shepherd to them bedouins Are As anachronistic As indians in Tepee would be in downtown Denver or Dallas. Today few in bedouin tribes Are True nomads and most of those who Are belong to older generation. A great Many like Marzouq of Taibi a sons have moved to towns and cities. But looking at weathered faces and hard frames of these aging Oraibi men it is not hard to understand How a wind blown corps of such tribesmen under Abdul Aziz a Young chief of bedouin clan called Saud drove turks out of arabian Peninsula took Mecca and Medina and claimed that desert As saudi Arabia in name of their Leader. The Oraibi know this but they also know Days of easy Conquest by Camel mounted fighter Are Over. Quot wars of our grandfathers were fought with sword and pistol not with ail these big weapons of today Quot said mamas Oraibi who thinks he is about 60. The great English explorers of Arabia sir Richard Burton St. John Philby . Lawrence and Wilfred thesier among others found a nobility in wind dried life of bedouin that they cherished and relentlessly romanticized in their writings. Do these desert men today Long for that reputedly pure now vanished past a not much it seems. Marzouq Oraibi said he remembers when As a child All that was there was waste and a few mud huts. Today same dunes National geographic Are covered with Oil refineries superhighways two airports two seaports and several cities. Quot it is better now Quot said Marzouq Oraibi recalling How he used to have to walk 25 Miles across desert in a Day As a boy living on Camel s milk and a few dates. Meat was a luxury he said a Mouthful a month was a big meal. Today he has a four wheel drive vehicle and a water truck parked next to his tent. His wife lives with his children in a Small House in a nearby town. He tends his 70 camels in Sands a Rich and he says Happy Man. The wealth once unimaginable for most nomads comes from Oraibi having worked on ii Survey teams in desert As Well As from government assistance. It is a typical mixture of old and new for bedouin that extends to endless cups of Sweet Tea Marzouq offers a guest a brewed in a beaten brass pot but kept hot in a new thermos bottle. The Sun moves lower in sky. With a squint Marzouq and others Rise for late afternoon prayer one of five times a Day an observant Muslim addresses his god. The bedouins step away to carry out their ablutions in a ritual As old As their Faith. They Wash their feet Ankles hands face and ears with scoops of water cleansing themselves for their maker. Then they Bend until prostrate on Sand invoking Allah repeatedly in an almost moaning cadence their bodies bowed toward Mecca far across desert. When their prayer is done they return brushing from their foreheads grains of Sand briefly glint in setting Sun. A there will be a War. There must be a War Quot mamas Oraibi stated with finality As he squatted again and picked up conversation. A Saddam Hussein and iraqis Are not Good men. They Are not Good muslims. They must be will not Many men die he was asked. The bedouin shrugged. If they do he said Quot it is gods an american Blackhawk helicopter swept by not far from Aramco Oil pipeline that runs nearby. But something seems unchanged despite modernity that presses in from above and below. Marzouq a a favorite Camel and her foals nuzzle Over to steal dates and beg for a rub on their Silky muzzles. It is her milk Sweet and Salty that herdsmen drink. The shadows have lengthened. The Breeze first searing now seems Cooling and smells almost Sweet. The Sand is somehow soothing. The silence once desolate is restful. What is it that keeps you Here bedouins were asked. What do you love about this place Quot everything Quot Marzouq exclaimed. Quot All of this a he spread an open Palm in a slow sweep of dunes grizzled Brush a few Rock outcroppings and sky and Sand As far As Eye and mind can see. Friday october 1990 stars and stripes a a a Page 17
