EMEK HEFER, Israel - With eight wives and 67 children, Shahadeh Abu Arrar has given new meaning to the term “family man.”
Abu Arrar, 58, is a member of IsraelÂ’s impoverished Bedouin Arab community. But even in a traditional nomadic society where men commonly have several wives and many children, Abu Arrar is exceptional.
“I’m thinking about a new wife, No. 9,” he told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot in a recent interview. “There are many women who wish to marry me and there is no lack of women. I never had a problem with such things.”
Abu Arrar, whose oldest child is 37, was photographed by the newspaper in a long Bedouin robe and head cover, surrounded by a dozen of so of his kids.
During a visit to his multistory home in central Israel, The Associated Press spotted 17 of the children milling about, dressed in bright red, blue and green-embroidered Palestinian dresses and headscarves. Four veiled women, including two who said they were his wives, sat on the porch peeling vegetables.
Abu Arrar refused to talk to an AP reporter.
Bedouin society allows polygamy
While Islam allows Muslim men to have four co-wives, it is a custom in Bedouin society to flout the already-generous ruling — and an Israeli ban on polygamy — by marrying women one at a time, divorcing them and marrying others, experts on Bedouin culture said.
Culturally, itÂ’s understood that the renounced wives are still married to Abu Arrar, the experts said.
ItÂ’s unclear how Abu Arrar supports his massive family. Camels, goats and a cow were grazing on his property. Yediot said he also receives about $1,700 in government handouts each month.
According to the Israeli Interior Ministry, Abu Arrar has 53 children registered as Israeli citizens. He has 14 other children born to Palestinian wives in the West Bank and who are not eligible for Israeli citizenship, his other wives said.
Either way, his family size pales in comparison to the size of the average Israeli family: 2.3, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.
Splits time among wives
Abu Arrar claims to remember all his childrenÂ’s names, and says they are split almost evenly between boys and girls. And heÂ’s still going strong.
“My first wife is my age, and today I hardly spend any time with her. Her children are big, and I leave her alone. I have younger wives to spend time with. Every night I decide which wife to be with,” Abu Arrar told the newspaper.
Activists said Abu ArrarÂ’s story showed the urgency of raising literacy and education among Bedouin women. Many are pressured into marriage or feel they have no other options beside raising children, said Khadra al-Sani, director of Sidra, a Bedouin womenÂ’s rights group.
Brewer Offers Lifetime supply of beer for missing laptop that contains experimental reports
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand brewer is offering a lifetime supply of free beer in exchange for the return of a laptop stolen in a break-in.
Croucher Brewing Co. co-owner Paul Croucher said Friday the computer contains “all our financials” as well as label designs for new beers and business contacts.
“So we decided that if anyone does come into possession of it we’ll be happy to offer them a reward — a dozen (bottles) of beer a month for the rest of their life,” he said.
Croucher estimated the total value would likely be about $19,500 for a lifetime of beer. Since making the offer, “plenty of people” had called to say they were looking for the computer, he said.
“Opportunistic kids and a flimsy padlock” resulted in the theft, he said.
Coucher said he was optimistic the free beer offer would lead to the return of the stolen computer. “We’d love it back. We’re at such a critical stage in our little business that every hit like that is quite big,” he said.
The microbrewery in the central North Island tourist town of Rotorua currently ships 160 gallons of its three beers — an English-style pale ale, Czech-style pilsner and a cloudy German wheat beer — each week.
New Zealand winemaker Montana called to warn the brewery owners to make sure the terms of their free beer reward were precise. The winery had a difficult legal wrangle with the winner of an offer of five yearsÂ’ free wine who tried to extend the supply.
