The Nazareth Riots

Abstract

Against the background of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and increased internal ethnic tensions, violent demonstrations erupted between Arab and Jewish Israelis in Nazareth in October 2000. The nature of this riot participation, the congruence between motivation for political participation and actual riot activity, and different psychological outcomes across the two ethnic groups are examined. Results show that Arabs reported engaging more often in both nonviolent and violent riot activities than Jews. The majority of riot participants showed stable motivation-activity patterns. In terms of psychological consequences, only Jewish Israelis who engaged in nonviolent activities were spared distress, whereas all other groups expressed significant distress and symptoms after the riots, indicating different psychological consequences for the two ethnic groups.