Israeli Communities Research Articles

Parent-adolescent coping with prolonged geopolitical conflict: A qualitative analysis focusing on distress and resilience.

Adolescents who were raised in conflict-ridden areas may face unique challenges that may also impact their transition to adulthood. We explored coping processes, distress symptoms, and resilience resources of late adolescents and their parents residing in Israeli communities bordering Gaza and exposed to ongoing conflict-related violence. We conducted in-depth interviews with late adolescents and one of their parents (n = 8 dyads, 16 individual interviews). Four main themes emerged: (a) dynamic adaptation - complex movement between coping styles; (b) distress symptoms; (c) siblingship - the central role of siblings in shaping adolescent resilience; and (d) community impacts - the ways in which social and physical environment can foster resilience. The findings broaden existing coping theories and offer practical implications for practitioners providing support to populations exposed to prolonged conflicts.

“A Day of Blood and Valor”: terrorism and social tensions in 1970s Israel

ABSTRACT On June 13, 1974, four Palestinian militants penetrated kibbutz Shamir in northern Israel, killing three women before being killed by an ad-hoc force of kibbutz members. The attack on Shamir generated a new discourse in Israel about civilian reaction to terrorism and the concept of the citizen-soldier. But this discourse was intertwined with contemporaneous social and ethnic conflicts, as it included comparisons between the events in Shamir and in other communities struck by Palestinian terrorism around the same period. Analyzing the public reactions to the raids on Shamir and other Israeli communities – mainly the towns of Kiryat Shmona and Ma’alot – this article argues that, in contrast to received opinion, security threats did not serve as a social glue keeping together a divided Israeli society, but rather accentuated ethnic and social tensions plaguing Israel in the 1970s.

Shared Traumatic Reality: Coping among Educational Counselors Living and Working in Israeli Communities on the Gaza Border

Shared traumatic reality describes situations in which helpers and those they help are subject to the same traumatic events. This qualitative study examined perceptions among 16 school counselors who live and work in Israeli communities located along the border with the Gaza Strip. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically. The counselors described security tensions that threaten to disrupt their daily routine, harm their emotional well-being and negatively affect their family life. They noted exposure to traumatic incidents, emotional flooding, overload and tension. They reported having difficulty distinguishing between their professional and personal lives, primarily because they had to help and support their students while also functioning as parents.

The Representation of Palestinian and Israeli Communities in Cameron’s Speech: A critical Discourse Analysis

One of the main functions of critical discourse analysis (CDA) is to connect the linguistic categories to the ideological functions. The way Palestinians and Israelis are represented ideologically and grammatically are taken into account in this current study. The interpretation between ideology and discourse are considered within the scope of critical discourse analysis. The present study follows the method of CDA for its functional importance in the field of discourse analysis. To achieve that, the researcher adopts the CDA framework which is stated by Fairchough in his book “language and power” as it is a systematic and helpful way in the analysis. It has three dimensions; description, interpretation and explanation. Following his framework, the researcher tries to shed the light on grammatical, linguistic and social relational features, as well as micro and macro analysis. The selected data is the speech of Cameron, the Prime Minister of Britain, to the Knesset in 2014. The researcher tries to spot the representations of both Palestinian and Israeli communities in his speech. This study aims to investigate if his speech is neutral or it contains any bias. The results show that most of Cameron’s representations are used to support the Israeli community rather than the Palestinian community.

Poetry in Response to the “Disengagement Plan”: Identity, Poetics and Politics

This article will examine the corpus of poems written in the years 2004-2005, in response to the Israeli government’s Disengagement plan that unilaterally evacuated all Israeli communities from Gush Katif in the southern Gaza Strip. These poems are explored as a political speech act, whose purpose is to bring about an extra-linguistic outcome: to impact upon the feelings and thoughts of the addressees, as well as to influence them in relation to issues of identity and social affiliation. Indeed, these poems are part of a long and complex tradition of Hebrew political poetry, characterized not only by a response to political events but also by poets’ attempts to inspire change and shape attitudes—particularly regarding political issues that have moral implications. In this context of this tradition of political poetry, it could be assumed that the poetry written in response to the Disengagement plan would seek to participate in the extensive public protest and to bring about political change. I will argue, however, that this poetry was not political poetry, which sought to bring about an actual pragmatic change, but rather a type of political poetry that sought instead to confront and to process the implications of the anticipated political reality on an Israeli citizen’s identity and consciousness.

Evaluating a community fire as human-made vs. natural disaster moderates the relationship between peritraumatic distress and both PTSD symptoms and posttraumatic growth

ABSTRACT Objective: This study examined whether attributing a cause of a community fire to a human-made vs. natural disaster moderated the association between peritraumatic distress (PD) and posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms, as well as between PD and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Method: Participants lived in Israeli communities affected by wide-scale fires in November 2016. At Time 1 (within one month of the fires), 390 participants completed measures. At Time 2 (four months after the fires), 223 of the original participants completed follow-up-questionnaires. Participants reported their PD symptoms at Time 1, and their beliefs regarding the cause of the fire, PTSD symptoms, and PTG at Time 2. Results: Higher levels of PD at Time 1 were associated with higher levels of both PTSD symptoms and PTG at Time 2. Participants who believed that the fires were more of a human-made than natural disaster had stronger associations between PD and PTSD symptoms, and stronger associations between PD and PTG. Conclusions: Attributions regarding the cause of a disaster may be related to both PTSD symptoms as well as PTG. Balanced and responsible public announcements regarding the causes of traumatic events may reduce the deleterious effects in the aftermath of a traumatic event.

Enabling identity as an ethical tension in a community of philosophical inquiry with children and young adults

This article focuses on an ethical tension in a community of philosophical inquiry with children and young adults; the resolution that the author suggests is called “enabling identity.” The “enabling identity” model seeks to endow a voice to children and adolescents from marginalized groups by challenging the mainstream hegemonic discourse that governs the discourse where communities of philosophical inquiry operate. One of the challenges that philosophy for children faces today is enabling the voices of marginalized groups represented within communities of philosophical inquiry comprising children or adults to be heard. The participants in communities of philosophical inquiry who come from non-privileged backgrounds and low socio-economic sectors or national minorities, whose narrative does not accord with that of the dominant national narrative, feel uncomfortable expressing their feelings and experiences, preferring not to raise the questions that interest them. Even if they are amicable, such communities of inquiry are governed—even if implicitly—by the hegemonic metanarrative. This article analyzes this ethical tension and suggests a three-phase theoretical and practical model which depicts this enabling while relying on narrative theory as well as the philosophical and dialogical work of Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Buber. The last part also offers insights from research in German and Israeli communities of inquiry with children and young adults that have used this model.

“This is not Europe”: Sexuality, ethnicity and the (re)enactment of Israeli authenticity

The dominant narrative of Israeli nationalism is based on a foundational tension. On one hand, Zionism was motivated by a desire to create a new category of Jewish personhood that would be distinct from its European counterpart. Yet, on the other hand, normative Israeli identity has never been conceptualised as a fully “Middle Eastern” category. Rather, cultural and historical links to Europe have been strategically deployed to sustain and legitimate pervasive systems of social stratification and marginalisation that exist both within Jewish Israeli communities as well as between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. In this paper, we describe how Arisa, a queer Israeli music group, critiques this dominant Eurocentric imagining of Israeli identity. Drawing on developments in the study of mediatised performance, we examine a promotional music video that Arisa released in 2014. We illustrate how in the video Arisa parodies normative conceptualisations of Israeli authenticity and the gendered, sexual and ethnic stereotypes that undergird them. At the same time, we demonstrate how Arisa’s critique functions by reinscribing tropes of (Jewish) Israeli exceptionalism, thus feeding into dominant discourses of Israeli homonationalism. In the paper, we discuss the complex intersections between these two aspects of Arisa’s performance as they relate to the politics of mediatised performance more generally.

Adaptation and Resilience Among Clinicians Under Missile Attack: Shared Traumatic Reality

Shared traumatic reality (STR) is when clinicians function as caregivers and are exposed to the same conditions as their patients. Since 2001, Israeli communities bordering Gaza (i.e., “Otef Gaza”) have experienced repeated missile attacks. Caregivers there have been exposed to trauma on two levels: (1) exposure to vicarious trauma through client interaction and (2) direct exposure resulting from their belonging to the communities affected. Two focus groups of mental health workers (n = 20) from Otef Gaza were conducted. The main theme that emerged was the perception of STR as an ongoing process of adaptation and change rather than a static condition. Participants noted the adaptation process encompass three foci: (1) intrapersonal, (2) clinicians’ spouses and family members, and (3) the broad working environment. Study results contribute to understanding resilience factors and addressing the needs of caregivers in STR conditions.

The Struggle with Anxiety and Depression among the Elderly: Predicting Elderly Behavior in Crisis and Conflict Situations – The Case of Operation Protective Edge

Existing theories cast the elderly as individuals likely to crumble under pressure, suggesting that crisis situations may exacerbate underlying conditions, such as depression.The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians breeds numerous stress situations, which are bound to affect the lives of the elderly population on both sides. This inspired the author to examine whether the elderly population in Israel does, in fact, behave according to existing theories.A prominent example of a crisis situation was the 2014 conflict, which triggered a crisis in Israeli communities that found themselves under the threat of direct rocket fire. The situation lent itself to the assumption that there would be a spike in depression and anxiety among the area's residents, especially the elderly, which would translate into "mass migration" to safer areas.This study sought to substantiate or refute the "helplessness" of elderly people in crisis situations. It was based on a qualitative analysis of questionnaires answered by Holocaust survivors, former Soviet Union immigrants, and long-time residents of the Gaza vicinity communities, shortly after the conflict.The study found little to no evidence of depression or anxiety among elderly Israelis, proving their resilience in the reviewed crisis.While the rationale varied among participants, a clear sentiment came through, spelling devotion among the border communities' residents, defiance among immigrants from the former USSR, and a combination of both among Holocaust survivors.The study indicated the elderly tend to be mentally tougher than younger generations, proving their resilience by weathering multiple threats. To conclude: Senior citizens can be used to bolster the home front's resilience; depression and anxiety experienced by the elderly in crisis situations can be alleviated by providing them with information about the nature of the threat; and it is best to form permanent resilience centers in threatened areas.

Coletividade na geração de renda e desenvolvimento local: comparativo entre os Moshavim israelenses e uma associação de Maria da Fé, Brasil

The exercise of thinking about local development involves considering all the complexity of the actors and their interactions in the economic, environmental and social fields in an articulated way. Some of the forms of articulation for income generation are cooperatives and associations that, through collective work and management, give the community and those involved the role of agents. As a way of thinking about local development through collective initiatives for income generation, our aim is to conduct a transnational comparative analysis of rural cooperative Israeli communities, Moshavim, and an Association of Artisans in the municipality of Maria da Fe, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The methodology took into account the local context of the enterprises, structuring the comparative case study on the basis of the parameters of pluriactivity, rural enterprises, use of natural resources, alternative generation of income, cooperative organization and mutual assistance. The results indicate similarities in the rurality of both, in the use of natural resources and in mutual assistance. The main differences are in the pluriactivity and in the use of manpower (self-labor and wage -labor). Keywords: local development, generation of income, collective organizations, Moshav, Association of Craftsmen, comparative analysis.

COMMUNITY SENSE OF COHERENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS AS RELATED TO THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN RISK BEHAVIORS

The current study employs a new concept–community sense of coherence (CSOC)–that measures youth's perceptions of their own community and its potential as a source for protective factors and assets. The theoretical foundation for this measure is the salutogenic approach and its concept of “sense of coherence.” A total of 1023 students from the 8th to 11th grades, living in 3 Israeli communities, filled out self-reported questionnaires that included measures of CSOC and involvement in risk behaviors. Results indicated significant negative correlations between CSOC and the levels of risk behaviors. The overall variance of risk behaviors explained by CSOC was found to be different in each of the three communities. The findings suggest that CSOC is a significant protective factor that could be related to reduced involvement in risk behaviors. The results are discussed within the framework of community protective factors and the salutogenic approach.

Meeting in the Middle East: Iona and Peter Opie's contribution to co-existence education

Simon Lichman and Rivanna Miller have worked in the field of co-existence education since 1991 at the Centre for Creativity in Education and Cultural Heritage, a non-profit-making organisation based in Jerusalem, Israel. They use folklore as a tool in multicultural and co-existence education in a region where conflict and violence are part of everyday experience. The world of play is a central theme in programmes that bring together Jewish and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli communities. Children research the games their parents and grandparents played in their childhoods, sharing the play worlds they learn about with each other. This article reflects on how Iona and Peter Opie's books add richness to the process of discovery. Personal family traditions are placed within the broader sweep of history and contexts of traditional play which encourages participants to accept and enjoy their similarities and differences.

‘For the Honor and Glory of the Jewish People‘: Arendt’s Ambivalent Jewish Nationhood

Observers of German-Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt often disagree on her politics, yet many view her as a staunch early critic of Zionism. Whereas her criticism of Israel rendered her unpopular in the American-Jewish and Israeli communities for many decades after 1948, commentators more recently have come to see her perspective as a prescient assessment of the ills of Jewish nationalism. This interpretation, however, fails to grasp the complexity of Arendt‘s political views of Zionism in particular and of Jewish nationhood in general, which evolved over time and remained ambivalent from her early to her late works.

The differential impact of terrorism on two Israeli communities.

The authors evaluated 2 cohorts of individuals from different Israeli communities (Sderot and Otef Aza) that are repeatedly subjected to potentially lethal missile attacks. Although both communities border the Gaza Strip and face similar levels of threat, the authors hypothesized that the Sderot cohort would endorse higher rates of stress-related symptoms because it has fewer mitigating economic and psychosocial resources. The authors further hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship between exposure to terror and psychopathology regardless of community context. To test these predictions, the authors compared the levels of exposure to terror, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression in representative samples of adults from the 2 communities (n=298 and n=152, respectively). Residents of Sderot had a much higher rate of probable PTSD (35.2% vs. 6.6%), and community context was the most important predictor of PTSD and depression. The study also revealed a significant relationship between exposure and psychopathology, but for Sderot residents only. The conclusion is that researchers, mental health workers, and policy makers should pay attention to the influence of community characteristics, such as the availability of resources, the general sense of support, and the level of solidarity, on the mental health response to exposure to terror.

The Effects of Security Threats on Antecedents of Police Legitimacy

Objectives: Examine the relative importance of “police performance” and “procedural justice” as antecedents of police legitimacy in situations of acute security threats, in comparison to situations of “no threat.” Method: A unique security situation in Israel allowed for a natural experiment. Using survey data and a multivariate regression approach, the authors compare the importance of “procedural justice” and “police performance” in “Sderot,” an Israeli town facing immediate security threats, with other Israeli communities that did not suffer from specific security threats at the time. Results: As expected, assessments of police performance did increase in importance for the public under threat. At the same time and contrary to the authors' hypothesis, evaluations of procedural justice did not decline in importance, and, what is more, procedural justice remained the primary antecedent of police legitimacy in both conditions. Conclusions: There does not seem to be a zero-sum game between “police performance” and “procedural justice” in predicting police legitimacy. Moreover, procedural justice is consistently the primary antecedent of police legitimacy, even when the public is faced with the stressful situation of immediate security threats. The authors encourage future research to replicate their analysis in different settings and particularly under different conditions of security threats.

Terrorist Threats and Police Performance: A Study of Israeli Communities

In recent years, scholars and police practitioners have become increasingly concerned with the possible impacts of terrorism on police performance. Some scholars have argued that increased terrorist threats will reduce resources that are devoted to ordinary policing functions such as solving crimes, and that anti-terrorism functions may overshadow traditional police activities. Others have suggested that heightened surveillance due to terrorist threats could have unintended crime prevention benefits. In this study, we examine the impacts of terrorist threats on one aspect of police performance--the clearance of police files. Using Israel during the Second Intifada (2000-04) as a case study, we analyse the impact of level of terrorist threat, while controlling for other possible confounding factors, separating out communities that are primarily Jewish or Arab. Our analyses suggest that terrorist threats have a significant impact upon police performance, though that impact varies strongly by type of community. Higher levels of threat are associated with lower proportions of cleared cases in the majority Jewish communities, and higher proportions in the majority Arab communities.

The Political Agenda and Policy-Making: The Case of Emigration from Israel

The article examines the process of introducing the complicated phenomenon of emigration from Israel on the Israeli political agenda, the place of this phenomenon on the agenda, its effect on public policy making in this sphere, and its being delegated from an important item to a pseudo item. Based on one of the models of Cobb and Ross — the Outside Initiative Model — an analysis is being made of the trends of development and stages of the raising of the topic of emigration on the political agenda and the strategies, procedures and frameworks that have led to its inclusion on the agenda. The article discusses whether the mere existence of the topic of emigration on the political agenda is likely to guarantee the determination of a systematic and comprehensive governmental policy and for the adoption of practical measures in this sphere. The article surveys the stresses and changes which have led to the alteration of the place of emigration from a major topic on the Israeli political agenda to a pseudo-item. An examination and analysis is being made of attitudes which have recently been arguing an explicit negation of the existence of the topic. It seems that this phenomenon is accumulating a normative momentum that finds expression in an increased understanding of the phenomenon as such, in refraining from its disapproval, and in the increase of the number of those who regard themselves as potential emigrants. There is also an increase in the Israeli communities abroad and infrastructure is being created for the absorption of additional Israelis seeking their fortune abroad. The continuing existence of this situation is likely not only to prevent a reversal of the tendency, but to keep the phenomenon of emigration permanently as a pseudo-item on the Israeli political agenda and perhaps even totally to remove it from this agenda. Although the presumptive processes and factors that have been raised might explain the alteration of the place of the phenomenon of emigration on the Israeli political agenda, it seems that they are also capable of explaining the conversion of other topics from real ones to pseudo ones.

Challenging Injustice: A Decision Every Human Can Make

W hile preparing to travel to Berlin for a postdoctoral fellowship, I received an e-mail from Mr. Charles Henderson saying, ‘‘I am working on a special issue of the journal I publish here...on the situation in the Middle East. I want to highlight individuals and organizations that are making a positive difference, and particularly those who are working toward reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli communities both within the borders of Israel and also between Israel and the Palestinian territories, even in the face of mounting obstacles.’’ Because of the lack of documented voices of women regarding these issues, I agreed to accept the task and write an article for the magazine. When I started to think about what to write, I went back to Mr. Henderson’s e-mail. He mentioned his interest in those who are working toward reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli communities within the borders of Israel, which is a topic that I find challenging. At once, endless questions flooded my mind: What can I write? What purpose will my article serve? And who will it help? What does Mr. Henderson mean by ‘‘positive difference’’? Is he interested in presenting an Arab-Israeli woman’s success story? Or maybe, I thought, he is interested in depicting the story of an active Palestinian woman who refuses to be victimized by historical, political, and social circumstances? Again I thought, what am I going to gain or lose if I write the article? Should I be honest or should I be politically correct, and what will be the cost of either choice?

Distributive Justice and a Rising Middle Class: Conflict between MAPAI and White-collar Professionals before the 1955 General Elections in IsraelAvi Bareli is a member of staff at the Ben Gurion Research Institute, Ben Gurion University. Uri Cohen is a member of the School of Education, Tel Aviv University.

‘Absorbers’ and ‘absorbed’ are the terms used in sociological and historical research on Israeli society in the decade that began in 1948, the year Israel gained its independence. These terms refer...