Village In Israel Research Articles

The role of the Israeli-Syrian mixed armistice commission in the fate of the Arabs of Krad al-Baqqara and Krad al-Ghaname 1948-1956

ABSTRACT The 1949 Israeli-Syrian armistice agreement stipulated the establishment of a mixed armistice commission [MAC] to oversee the implementation of the terms of the agreement. One of the outcomes of this agreement was the creation of demilitarized zones inhabited by local Arab villagers. During Israel’s War of Independence, the residents of Krad al-Baqqara and Krad al-Ghaname fled to Syria; the agreement enabled them to return to their lands in the demilitarized zone. Two years later, Israel moved them out of the demilitarized zone, but then allowed them once again to return. During the 1956 Sinai War most left the zone or were forced to leave for Syria. The legal status of the demilitarized zone meant that unlike the residents of other Arab cities and villages in Israel, these villagers were not under military rule, and that UN observers could intervene in their affairs. Unexplored documents paint a complex picture of the different interests and involvement of the IDF (which oversaw the Israeli Delegation to the Mixed Armistice Commission), the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Syrian government, and the UN observers in their fate.

The psychiatric work villages in Israel: a micro working community.

This paper examines the psychiatric work villages in Israel, which have so far had little historiographic attention. In the 1950s and 1960s, four work villages were established for people with psychiatric disabilities. They were intended to create a long-term rehabilitative alternative to the common hospitalization practice. These villages were organized around employment in various branches of farming and also offered recreational and cultural activities to alleviate the patients' loneliness and to create a community life. The villages echoed central values of the new country: labour, manufacturing, cooperativity, and cultural and community life. I will discuss the similarities between the psychiatric work villages and earlier, mostly Western, psychiatric therapeutic models, such as moral treatment and the therapeutic community model.

Labor market position among care leavers and their matched peers: A longitudinal comparative study

BackgroundThe adverse labor market experience of care leavers is well-documented. Care leavers lag behind their peers in the general population in all employment aspects and even fall short compared to young people from low-income families. Yet, there are only very few comparative longitudinal studies on care leavers' relative labor market position (LMP). ObjectivesTo examine and predict: (1) LMP, an integrative measure of labor market connectedness and earning level, among care leavers and a matched comparison group from age 22 to 34; (2) gender differences in LMP among care leavers and their same-sex matched peers. Participants and settingParticipants were alumni of youth villages in Israel from 13 consecutive birth cohorts (20,758) and a double-sized matched comparison group (41,510). MethodsBased on longitudinal administrative records bivariate analyses examined differences in age-related LMP between care leavers and their matched peers. Gender-stratified analyses were also performed. A multilevel multinomial model predicted LMP throughout the age span. ResultsCare leavers were less likely than their matched peers to be disconnected from employment. The rate of low-wage earners was similar in the two groups. Male care leavers performed better than their matched peers, while female care leavers performed worse than their matched peers. Controlling for pre-care factors, in-care and post-care achievements and experiences, both men and women care leavers performed better than their matched peers. ConclusionsLabor market connectedness and relative earning progression are shaped by pre-care factors, in-care and post-care achievements and experiences. Three sub-groups of care leavers and similar young people were identified based on their characteristics.

Legacies of Survival: Historical Violence and Ethnic Minority Behavior

How is the electoral behavior of minorities shaped by past violence? Recent studies found that displacement increases hostility between perpetrators and displaced individuals, but there has been paltry research on members of surviving communities. We argue that the latter exhibit the opposite pattern because of their different condition. Violence will cause cross-generational vulnerability, fear and risk-aversion—leading the surviving communities to seek protection and avoid conflict by signalling loyalty and rejecting nationalist movements. In their situation as an excluded minority in the perpetrators’ state, they will be more likely to vote for out-group parties. Exploiting exogenous battlefield dynamics that created inter-regional variation in the Palestinian exodus (1947–1949), microlevel measurements that capture the damage of violence, and an original longitudinal data set, we show that Palestinian villages in Israel more severely impacted by the 1948 war have a much higher vote share to Jewish parties even 70 years later. Survey evidence further supports our theory, revealing that this pattern exists only for members of the surviving communities, and not among displaced individuals. The findings shed new light on the complex social relations that guide political decision-making in post-war settings and divided societies that suffer from protracted conflicts.

Associations of early-life exposures and socioeconomic status with cognitive development at preadolescence.

The long-term relations of socioeconomic status (SES) and early-life exposures with cognitive development at preadolescence are not fully understood, especially in low SES populations. We examined associations of SES and early-life exposures including feeding practices, physical growth and infections with cognitive development among preadolescents from underprivileged communities. A prospective study was conducted among 146 healthy children from two relatively low SES Arab villages in Israel, who were recruited at age 1-9 weeks and followed until age 18 months. Information was obtained on their feeding practices, health status and growth indicators. Cognitive development at age 10-12 years was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, including the full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and scores of four cognitive domains. Multiple linear regression models were performed. Nearly all the children (98%) were breastfed in infancy. Bivariate correlations were found of SES, growth indices and rates of diarrheal and respiratory illnesses in infancy, but not of feeding practices, with cognitive scores. In multivariable models, SES was positively (p<0.001) associated with all the cognitive domains (beta coefficient ranges 4.3 to 8.2). Birthweight was positively associated with FSIQ (p=0.039) and the perceptual reasoning index (p=0.002). Weight for age Z score at age 10-14 months was positively associated with the verbal comprehension index (p=0.003). The rate of respiratory illnesses was negatively associated with the perceptual reasoning index (p=0.05). SES is strongly associated with cognitive development even in relatively low SES communities. Birthweight, weight indicators and respiratory illness in infancy might affect cognitive development through preadolescence.

Comparison between School-Age Children with and without Obesity in Nutritional and Inflammation Biomarkers

Childhood obesity is a major health problem. We examined differences between children with obesity and normal weight in nutritional and inflammation biomarkers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthy children aged 10-12 years from Arab villages in Israel. Parents were interviewed regarding sociodemographic and children's health status. Body weight and height measurements were performed and weight categories were defined using the 2007 WHO growth curves. Blood samples were tested for complete blood count, levels of iron, ferritin, lipids, uric acid, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Overall, 146 children (59.0% males, mean age = 11.3 [SD = 0.5]) were enrolled. In total 43.8%, 14.1% and 42.3% of the participants had normal weight, overweight and obesity, respectively. A multivariable logistic regression model showed that children with overweight and obesity had lower iron, and HDL-C levels than children with normal weight. Levels of CRP, uric acid, LDL-C and lymphocytes were higher among children with overweight and obesity. In conclusion, our findings highlight the worse metabolic and nutritional status in overweight and obese children. Such markers play a role in metabolic syndrome, thus suggesting that metabolic syndrome might start in childhood.

Labor force attachment among care leavers in Israel: A longitudinal cross-sequential between-groups design

BackgroundLittle is known about the long-term labor force attachment (LFA) of care leavers and how they compare with similar youth. ObjectivesThis study aims to: (1) examine LFA from age 21 to 34 among care leavers and a comparison group; (2) explain variability in age-related LFA. Participants and settingTwo groups were studied: all alumni of 14 consecutive birth cohorts (1982–1995) of care leavers of youth villages in Israel (22,670) and a double-sized matched comparison group drawn from the corresponding cohorts in the general population (45,340). MethodsThe study is based on a longitudinal cross-sequential between-groups design.The dataset integrates an extensive set of longitudinal administrative records. Descriptive statistic was used to describe and compare care leavers and their matched peers, in terms of background and achievements. Bivariate analyses examined differences in age-related LFA between care leavers and their matched peers. A multilevel multinomial model was employed to predict LFA levels throughout the age span. ResultsIn terms of achievements, care leavers show poorer educational attainment, greater reliance on social welfare services and experienced more difficulties during the mandatory military service. The rate of care leavers strongly connected to the labor market gradually increased as they grew older, reaching to about 65 % by age 34, whereas the rate of those disconnected from the labor market decreased with age, standing on 19 % by age 34. Care leavers had stronger LFA than their matched peers during their entire 20's, and similar levels thereafter. Multiple factors (e.g., family background, educational attainments) were associated with different levels of LFA. ConclusionsDifferential policy measures, while in-care and afterward, are needed to address care leavers' variability in labor market experience.

Hyper IgE Syndrome in an Isolated Population in Israel.

IntroductionHyper IgE syndromes (HIES) are a group of rare primary immunodeficiency characterized by high levels of serum IgE, cold abscesses, pulmonary infections, and eczema. ZNF341 deficiency was described in 2018 in 11 patients clinically diagnosed previously with HIES. Eight of those patients, all offspring of consanguineous couples, are from three families who live in a Muslim village in Israel which has approximately 15,000 residents.ObjectiveOur study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of ZNF341 mutation in the population of the village.MethodsThree hundred DNA samples of females were included in the study. The samples belong to females that were referred to the Meir Medical Center for prenatal genetic testing before pregnancy, during 2017-2019: 200 samples were from the village, and 100 samples of Muslim females were from other villages.All samples were tested by Sanger sequencing for the ZNF341 mutation (c.904C>T, NM_001282933.1).ResultsHeterozygous nonsense mutation in ZNF341 was found in ten samples (5%) of the study group compared to zero in the control group (p<0.01).ConclusionThe carrier frequency of the mutation in ZNF341 in the studied village population is 1:20. This high frequency is probably due to founder mutation and consanguineous marriages.

Supplemental Material for Life Satisfaction Among Alumni of Youth Villages in Israel: A Life Course Perspective

Supplemental Material for Life Satisfaction Among Alumni of Youth Villages in Israel: A Life Course Perspective

Life satisfaction among alumni of youth villages in Israel: A life course perspective.

Empirical evidence on life satisfaction of care leavers is scant and often based on small and nonrepresentative samples. Based on the life course perspective, this study explored the role of objective and subjective factors in explaining life satisfaction among care leavers, both general and domain-specific (work-financial-housing, social relationships-emotional state). The sample was randomly drawn from the whole population of eight graduating birth cohorts of alumni of educational residential care in Israel and consists of 2, 295 alumni (24-31 years old). The study is based on an extensive set of longitudinal administrative records combined with structured phone interviews. Bivariate analysis and multiple regression models were used to assess associations between precare context, in-care and postcare experiences and achievements with general and domain-specific life satisfaction. Gender differences were found in both domain-specific life satisfactions with men having greater satisfaction. Family background indicators were generally more predictive of general and social relationships- emotional state satisfaction. In-care experiences of peer and staff support and postcare experience of material deprivation were strong predictors of general and domain-specific life satisfaction. Postcare contacts with care staff, surprisingly, were associated with lower general satisfaction and satisfaction with social relationships-emotional state. Higher educational attainment at the end of placement and integration into postsecondary education were associated with greater general and work-financial-housing satisfaction. The effects of in-care preparation for independent adult living, employment and parenthood are not consistent across different domains of life satisfaction. Implications for policy and practice during and after care are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Indigenous children’s connectedness to nature: the potential influence of culture, gender and exposure to a contaminated environment

This study investigates the concept of “connectedness to nature” among students from an indigenous Bedouin community, whose relationship with nature is influenced by a variety of cultural, social and environmental factors, not least of which is the fact that the environment in which they live is highly contaminated. We asked 294 fifth- and sixth-grade students (130 boys and 164 girls), who live in the highly rural Bedouin villages in Israel’s Negev desert, to complete an open questionnaire that was specifically designed to elicit detailed information about these particular students’ connection to nature. The paper presents the results of two analyses of this questionnaire. The first—a quantitative analysis—divides the students’ answers into five aspects of connectedness to nature (nature enjoyment, empathy for living creatures, sense of oneness, sense of responsibility and experience of nature in my immediate environment). The second—an inductive, qualitative analysis of the students’ explanations and elaborations of their answers—provides a more nuanced description of the various social, historical and situational factors that influence these students’ relationship with their environment. It then addresses the tension between these two analyses, highlighting the limitations of “traditional” categories of nature connectedness while showing how these can nevertheless be used to elicit detailed, complex and pertinent information. It concludes by demonstrating how this information, if analyzed critically through its correspondence, or lack of correspondence, with the original assumptions of the statements that elicited it, might be used in the development of place-based environmental education programs for specific populations.

Being a social worker in the unrecognized villages in Israel

Summary This qualitative study presents the experiences of social workers whose clients are the inhabitants of unrecognized Bedouin Arab villages in Israel. Bedouin Arabs are an indigenous people, a minority population residing throughout Israel. Half of those in the south of the country inhabit villages that are not recognized by the authorities. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted over two years by both researchers with 25 social workers, recruited by the snowball method. The interview guidelines included one open-ended question and 10 more-specific questions. Findings The findings provide perspectives on postcolonial social work and social work with indigenous peoples. The social workers report that they are caught between their personal values and professional values, between Israeli law and the institutional aggression against their clients –which greatly limits their ability to fulfil their professional role. They say they are working in a “grey area” in which the policy is unclear. This adds another layer of complexity to their work but also allows for freedom and creativity. The findings point to a lack of suitable intervention programs. Applications Learning about the experience of social workers in conflict areas Learning about the experience of social workers in a clash of values Learning about the significance of unclear policy and its implications for the functioning of social workers in conflict areas.

Transformative Practices within Mechanisms of Control: “Recognizing” Unrecognized Arab-Bedouin Villages in Israel

“Seeing from the South” (Watson 2008) and “Re-engaging Planning Theory with South-Eastern Perspectives” (Yiftachel 2006) are essential calls for the development of planning theories and empirical research from the Global South. Such scholarship has interpreted the rationalities at play as informal settlements develop on the peripheries of rapidly globalizing cities and explored how they reflect the nature of state interventions. This article examines the utility of planning theories issued from the Global South and North in explaining a case of state planning for an indigenous, ethnic minority in Israel: the Negev/Naqab Arab-Bedouins. The researchers conducted 90 interviews with planners, engineers, Bedouin residents, government officials, academics, and employees of non-governmental organizations. Their aim was to understand how stakeholders comprehended, engaged with, and approached planning for the Abu-Basma Regional Council, a state initiative to plan and provide services to informal Bedouin villages in Israel’s south, as well as the program’s outcomes. The findings indicate that planning theories from the Global South, which are focused on space, resource distribution, and resident-driven spatial change, are essential to understanding the outcomes of planning. They provide a necessary context for the North’s normative/prescriptive planning theories, which highlight tangible “episodes” (Healey 2007, 78) of planning practice but risk misattributing popular resistance to a program’s communication challenges, rather than to residents’ fundamental objections.

Social work in a conflict context: Challenges facing social workers with indigenous inhabitants of unrecognised villages in Israel

This qualitative study presents the experiences of social workers whose clients are the inhabitants of unrecognised Bedouin Arab villages in Israel. It used in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with 25 participants, recruited by the snowball method. These social workers reported that they are caught between their personal and professional values, on the one hand, and employer regulations, government policy and government law, on the other – which greatly limits their ability to fulfil their professional role. The social workers also comment that they are working in a ‘grey area’ in which the government’s policy is unclear. This adds another layer of complexity to their work and reveals the differential implementation of critical social work principles by social workers with different cultural identities.

Do algorithms have a right to the city? Waze and algorithmic spatiality

ABSTRACT This article introduces the notion of algorithmic spatiality as a way to capture the unique spatial knowledge created by digital mobile media, and the way that this knowledge acts upon space, and is perceived by other actors involved in the production of space. Focusing on the navigation giant Waze, it asks how this new spatial actor legitimates the knowledge it creates about space and the effects incurred by this knowledge. In theoretical terms, it asks how Waze asserts its ‘right to the city’ through a discourse of a superior knowledge of space. These questions are discussed in light of a case study of the clash between Waze and local residents over the application’s common practice of diverting large volumes of traffic through side-roads, located in quiet neighbourhoods and villages in Israel. Over a period of two years, these clashes – by legal, political, and discursive means – reached public discussions in news outlets and social media, and these form the corpus of the research. The article shows how along long-established forms of knowledge which underlie different actors’ right to the city – experts’ knowledge, democratic knowledge, market knowledge, and local knowledge – emerges a new kind of knowledge, backed by big-data and algorithms and managed by a quasi-monopolistic platform, which claims a legitimate right to the production of space. Traditionally a right upheld by underprivileged groups and individuals, the right to the city is currently upheld by a socio-technical assemblage.

Extreme energy poverty in the urban peripheries of Romania and Israel: Policy, planning and infrastructure

Extreme energy poverty results from a mix of conditions including lack of access to a reliable and affordable grid-based energy source that meets basic domestic needs. In this paper, we focus on two communities that face multiple complications regarding modern energy and housing infrastructure: Roma neighborhoods in Romania and Bedouin villages in Israel. Our goal is threefold: to map within the two national contexts existing norms, policies and regulation with references to energy poverty; to identify and analyze the main characteristics and challenges associated with extreme energy poverty; finally, to highlight and discuss the nexus of infrastructure, planning and social inequality from the perspective of energy provision. Research methods included regulatory and policy analysis as well as interviews with policy and decision-makers in both countries. We found that, in both national contexts, laws and policies avoid a clear definition of energy poverty, instructions on how to measure it, and a systematic collection of relevant data. At the same time, there are no long-term policies to tackle energy poverty at a national scale. The study also found that policymakers perceive extreme energy vulnerability to be less urgent than other challenges for these excluded communities, and that long-lasting mistrust is a prominent characteristic of extreme energy conditions, as we define for the first time. Our additional contribution is conceptual: we show how informal housing conditions are combined with additional spheres of informalities, and how informal coping strategies with the challenge of energy poverty may be adopted by policymakers.

Professional Burnout among Teachers in Regular Schools and Youth Villages in Israel

Summary The research study addresses the burnout of teachers who teach in regular schools vs. burnout among teachers who teach in youth villages in Israel. The research participants consist of 73 teachers who work with at-risk youths in youth villages in Israel and 70 teachers who work in regular schools, making a total of 143 teachers. A 5-segment self-reporting questionnaire was distributed. The study found a difference in how teachers refer to the factors influencing their departure. In the youth villages, as the factors of support are greater, the factors of departure are more significant. Hence, it is possible to understand that the conclusion that arises from the study is that in order to prevent teacher burnout it is necessary to create many more sources of support, both in regular schools and in youth villages.

Haifa fire restoration project – urban forest management: a case study

On 24 November 2016, extreme hot and dry weather led to more than 1000 fires in Israel. One of the largest fires (120ha) occurred in the city of Haifa. The fire began on the slopes of the north-eastern part of the wildland–urban interface (WUI) and spread into the city, moving westward owing to strong wind gusts. Although private houses in open lands and villages in Israel have previously been affected by fires, this was the first ‘urban fire’ in Israel. In order to determine the best management strategy for the various types of burned areas, an ‘identity card’ was prepared for each area including main vegetation species and other points of interest. For urban forest areas, rehabilitation was planned according to topographic structure and anticipated soil erosion. In each reclaimed area, terraces were constructed using burned logs or local stones and inhibitors to mitigate soil erosion. After restoration, each urban forest underwent planting and renewal according to its geographic properties and location.

Affective Borderlands: Experiences in Practice of the Neo-Zionist Settling Enterprise in the Israeli Periphery

In writing on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the image of neo-Zionist settlers is taken often uncritically as an immediate expression of power, in representations by both settler movements and their opponents. Based on an ethnographic perspective that combines Herzfeld’s attention to the “intimacies” with critical writing on the symbolization of reality, I shift attention to an intricate representation of “affective borderlands” to illuminate situated experiences of settler–native relations in practice. Focusing on specific fragile and contradictory relations of single settlers and natives unfolding around a newly established village in Israel’s southern Negev desert, this ethnographic lens contributes to a deeper understanding of Israeli–Palestinian relations as entangled and entwined rather than separate. Beyond a dichotomist conception of native–settler relations and beyond the palpable dynamics of power, this examination of affective borderlands demonstrates that the more opponents invest in distinguishing themselves from the settler endeavor, the more its power over them grows.

The Education System as a Mechanism for Political Control: The Education System for the Druze in Israel

In 1976, the educational system serving Druze villages in Israel was separated from the overall Arab school system and a distinct educational system was set up for the Druze. This was done because the Druze serve in the army. The State believed it was necessary to prepare them for service and reduce inevitable dilemmas concerning their identification with the State, in general, and dilemmas concerning the service, in particular. This educational system was staffed mainly by Druze and featured an intensive, purposeful effort, both in terms of the formal curriculum and informal education, to create an Israeli-Druze consciousness among the students. This consciousness was meant to cause Druze youth to identify with the State and its symbols, and involved an emphasis on what the Druze and the Jews have in common along with what separates the Druze and other Arabs.