Predicting Responses to Volunteering among Adolescents in Israel: The Contribution of Personal and Situational Variables

The study examined positive and negative responses to volunteering (satisfaction with volunteering, perceived contribution to beneficiaries, and burnout) among 102 adolescents in Israel. The conceptual framework for explaining those responses was the ecological approach to the study of human development. In that context, the paper deals with the combined contribution of two ecological systems—the ontogenic system and the microsystem. The ontogenic system included sociodemographic variables (gender and religiosity), as well as empowerment resources. The microsystem included variables related to family context (parental volunteer activity and family support for volunteering), as well as to the context of volunteer activity (perceived rewards, difficulties with volunteering, and professional supervision). Sociodemographic variables and difficulties in relations with the provider organization predicted burnout, whereas rewards and professional supervision predicted satisfaction with volunteering. Empowerment contributed most to explaining volunteers’ perceived contribution to the beneficiaries of services.     

Social, Economic, and Attitudinal Characteristics of Cohabitation in Israel

This article examines cohabitation in Israel. Since the 1980s cohabitation has been on the rise, with heterosexual couples living together without being legally married. The purpose of this article is to address the following questions: What are the characteristics of cohabitation; what economic circumstances affect cohabitation; why is cohabitation chosen over “family” and is it becoming a threat to the family institution? The sample consisted of 50 couples. Our major findings were that cohabitation does not seem to be an alternative to marriage, but a prelude to it. We found a high correlation between the cohabitants' willingness to marry and their willingness to have children in the future. Cohabitants live in rented apartments, usually do not share a bank account, and have no formal economic agreement.     

Young Male Street Workers: Life Histories and Current Experiences

The current study aims to reveal the experiences of young malestreet prostitutes in Israel, providing a stage for the voiceof this marginal group to be heard, as we believe youth workersneed to know more about these young people’s lives beforewe can offer meaningful responses. The study was guided by twomain questions: (1) What accounts do young men who work as prostitutesprovide for their involvement in the sex industry? and (2) Whatare their experiences as young males engaged in prostitution?Using the life story interview and thematic analysis, four mainthemes were revealed: (a) a life-long path to prostitution;(b) entering prostitution; (c) interpersonal encounters whileengaging in prostitution; and (d) the consequences of workingin prostitution. The results highlight the lack of meaningfulinterpersonal relationships in the lives of these young men.Practical recommendations are made to better inform youth workersassisting this high-risk population.     

从巴勒斯坦开罗协议的实施看哈马斯的战略调整

2005年3月17日，巴勒斯坦13个力量派别在开罗达成协议，接受巴自治当局提出的对以色列“熄火”(亦称“平静期”)和停火建议。这标志着哈马斯对巴自治政府和巴解组织传统的立场和态度的重大转变，同时也标志着它对以色列斗争策略的战术变化。哈马斯进入巴勒斯坦决策层肯定会使巴自治政府在巴以谈判中的立场趋于强硬，中东和平进程因此会充满更多的变数。     

以色列对荒漠的开发治理及其主要经验

面对紧张的人地关系,以色列对占有国土面积一半以上的荒漠地区进行了开发治理,并积累了大量经验:保护与开发并重;政策倾斜引导;重视科研开发;完善社会化服务体系;加强国际合作等,为我国开发治理土地贫瘠地区,实现人口、资源与环境的可持续发展提供了借鉴。     

Between football and martyrdom: the bi-focal localism of an Arab-Palestinian town in Israel

Studies of the relationship between nationalism and localism have brought evidence that these orientations might maintain either relations of opposition or congruence. By conceiving of localism mainly as a strategy, this paper argues that localism can be used alternately as an anchor of nationalist narrative or as an alternative to nationalism by the exact same community. This argument is illustrated by the case of Sakhnin, an Arab-Palestinian town in Israel. Local pride in Sakhnin has developed around two separate foci: a nationalist heroic narrative of martyrdom and the success of the local football team. These two foci developed in complete isolation, since the first is embedded in a Palestinian nationalist narrative while the latter is oriented toward the Israeli Jewish public. An ethnographic study follows the construction of these separate spheres and a survey conducted among 174 men in the town confirms that involvement in the football sphere correlates with both local pride and integrative orientations.     

美国犹太文学“回归”主题研究

第一代美国犹太文学是犹太美国人的隔离苦难史。第二代美国犹太作家则刻意疏离犹太身份,其作品也被贴上了"同化"标签。上世纪70年代末,第三代犹太美国作家在作品中毫不掩饰对犹太传统回归的渴望,其文学也随之呈现出"回归"趋势。在全球化背景下,随着第四代美国犹太作家的崛起,流散转向逐渐形成,而介于"流散"趋势与"同化"主题之间的"回归"浪潮是研究美国犹太文学历史和未来的重要连接点,其地位和意义非凡。     

‘Seeing through their Eyes’: Towards Understanding Risk and Protection Perspectives of Young Bedouin Children in the Unrecognised Villages of the Naqab

This article is based on a participatory, context-informed study that examined perception of ‘risk’ and ‘protection’ among 30 Bedouin children aged four to five. It was conducted in the Bedouin unrecognised villages — Southern Israel and utilised photography, drawings and verbal explanations. The analysis yielded seven themes representing children’s perceptions of risk and protection. It indicated that children facing extreme adversity were aware of numerous risk conditions, including a lack of infrastructure and the fear of losing their homes, thus adversely affecting their well-being. Children’s insights, and suggested modes of protection, as the study findings reveal, are crucial for promoting children’s welfare.     

Participatory shaping of community futures in e‐waste processing hubs: Complexity,conflict and stewarded convergence in a Palestinian context

This article describes an unconventional participatory development approach carried out in an informal e‐waste hub in South‐West Hebron, an area that has collected and processed the bulk of Israeli e‐waste for over a decade. Our approach contributes to the critique and recovery of community representation in participatory development and the search for ways to facilitate representative community engagement. Specifically, we describe our use of a novel Delphi‐like method that allowed us to facilitate a broadly endorsed development trajectory within a heterogeneous and conflicted community. We show how the results yielded by this approach diverged from those that were likely to emerge from more facile forms of participation in ways that are important for other similar e‐waste hubs internationally, which face a destructive status quo on the one hand, or the economically ruinous international policies that ban e‐waste trade from “developed” to “developing” countries on the other. Despite real tensions and cleavages within the affected communities, the process described facilitated a shift from deadlocked environmental versus livelihood positions towards building capacity and regulating existing informal e‐waste trades to preserve livelihoods dependent on these.