Divorce Among Muslim Arab Women in Israel

Abstract

One hundred fifty-one Muslim Arab-Israeli women divorced within the past two years, having children, and living in Arab rural areas, Arab cities, and mixed (Jewish and Arab) cities, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Subjects encountered emotional distress and decreased socioeconomic status. All moved back to their parents' home. Levels of unemployment were high, perceived family support was high, and perceived community support was variable. Most anticipated little or no chance of remarrying. Level of education was associated with a tendency to initiate divorce. Living in an Arab city was associated with freedom of movement outside of the home, greater family support, and higher levels of employment. Implications for professional practice and policy development are considered.     

以色列阿拉伯公民的发展现状及其政治意识

以色列建国61年来,尽管其阿拉伯公民的社会地位和生活境况已有了很大改善,但他们并没有完全融入以色列社会.以色列作为一个犹太国家和西方民主国家的双重特性,决定了其对阿拉伯公民实行的是一种表面上平等而实质上则是剥夺与压迫、歧视、隔离和分化的政策.以色列阿拉伯公民的民族政治意识经历了几个发展阶段,已克服了最初的混乱和迷惘,将争取自己在以色列国内的平等地位和权利作为自己的目标,并提出了明确的政治愿景,对以色列的立国理念--锡安主义形成了挑战.正视阿拉伯公民的合理要求并将其纳入以色列民族国家构建的范畴之内,不仅关系到以色列国家的稳定和发展,而且对未来巴勒斯坦建国进程及其巴以关系的走向也将产生重要影响.     

The Distress and the Meaning Making of Divorced Abused Arab Women in Israel

Women’s divorce in the Arab society in Israel goes against patriarchal social values. The aim of this research is to explore the meaning that abused Arab women gave to their divorce. The present study based on interviews with 13 women, who had been divorced for 2 to 5 years. Analysis revealed that the women perceived their coping as navigation between the cost of stigma and familial and social distress, and the gains of their connection to sources of strength and self-worth. The discussion based on the interviewees’ existential experience their self-identity as meaning makers and choosers.     

以色列在非对称战争中的媒体策略调整

战争与媒体有着密切的联系。尤其是在实力悬殊的非对称战争中,媒体策略的运用在造成以弱胜强或者强者不能赢局面的过程中发挥了重要作用。以色列是地处中东危机频发的国家,拥有比较完善的危机管理机制,并通过战争总结经验教训,不断完善。本文以2006年黎以战争和2008年至2009年之交的加沙战争为例,考察了以色列在两次非对称战争中的媒体政策的调整,政府新闻部门、国防军和媒体的组合拳是当今以色列在非对称战争中媒体策略运用的主要特点,并取得了比较明显的效果。因此,媒体战、信息战在今后的非对称战争中也将占据更为重要的位置。     

以色列在非对称战争中的媒体策略调整

战争与媒体有着密切的联系.尤其是在实力悬殊的非对称战争中,媒体策略的运用在造成以弱胜强或者强者不能赢局面的过程中发挥了重要作用.以色列是地处中东危机频发的国家,拥有比较完善的危机管理机制,并通过战争总结经验教训,不断完善.本文以2006年黎以战争和2008年至2009年之交的加沙战争为例,考察了以色列在两次非对称战争中的媒体政策的调整,政府新闻部门,国防军和媒体的组合拳是当今以色列在非对称战争中媒体策略运用的主要特点,并取得了比较明显的效果.因此,媒体战,信息战在今后的非对称战争中也将占据更为重要的位置.     

Recruiting Arab Fathers in a Center for Children at Risk in Israel

Arab society in Israel is positioned between the traditional, collective values of Arab culture and the more prevalent Western individualistic values of the Israeli society at large. This poses a challenge for the welfare services in Israel, especially in the case of Arab clients, who tend to receive and interpret the social workers' messages as contradictory to their cultural norms. Therefore, recruiting Arab fathers for treatment is a particularly difficult task. The article focuses on creating a culturally sensitive process for recruiting Arab fathers for treatment in a center dealing with Arab families at risk in Israel.     

Physical Punishment in Christian Arab Families in Israel: Attitudes and Behaviour

The present study examines the attitudes towards physical punishment (PP) and its actual use as reported by Christian Arab parents and their children in Israel. Participants were parents and one child (of at least two) in 50 Christian Arab families. Three questionnaires based on semi‐structured interviews were developed for the study. Results show no difference in family members’ attitudes towards the use of PP. Whereas, the mean scores indicate ambivalent acceptance of this practice, the great majority of participants reported its frequent use. Mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes were found to be highly correlated and significant predictors of such behaviour. All three groups reported that mothers use PP much more than fathers do, although it was the fathers whom the children feared most. The results also show that the parents’ most frequent reaction to seven categories of children’s misbehaviour was verbal violence and the second most frequent reaction was PP. These and other results are discussed in the context of Arab culture in Israel, the social situation model and relevant research.     

Subjective well-being and perceptions of safety among Jewish and Arab children in Israel

As research has shown, safety is also a subjective phenomenon. Contemporary scholarship has also underscored the importance of subjective well-being among children as a vital component of overall well-being. Our paper explores the potential relationship between reported levels of safety in different settings and the subjective well-being of children. We conducted our study on 2238 children ages 10 and 12 with varying sociodemographic characteristics. Our findings support our hypothesis that safety in different settings is positively inter-correlated and that safety perceptions are positively correlated with subjective well-being. Furthermore, the correlations exist among different sociodemographic groups and in different settings.     

Arab students of social work in Israel: adjustment difficulties and coping strategies

Israel is a multi-cultural society, and this can no longer be ignored. However, there is a serious lack of theoretical and empirical literature dealing with the implications of Israel's multi-cultural social context for social work education in Israel, as well as its impact on social work practice with different ethnic and national populations in that country. The dearth of material is even more pronounced in the case of Arab students attending Israeli universities.

This paper documents the first stage of a project focusing on Arab students at the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A triangulation method was applied for collection of data from students enrolled in the 3-year programme, graduate students, faculty members and field work supervisors, as well as reports from previous years.

Personal, academic and socio-cultural difficulties are documented as well as coping mechanisms and recommendations for schools of social work in Israel. The results are used to demonstrate cultural misunderstanding, educational dilemmas and differences in professional ideologies.     

Collective action of ethno-national minority groups and the cost of inaction: Arab Palestinians in Israel

ABSTRACT

Collective action requires resources, organization, leaders and political opportunities. In the case of disadvantaged minority groups, long-standing conflict with the majority, a closed political opportunity structure and the difficulty of acquiring resources, increases the costs and risks of the action. We argue that the development of such an action is a function of leaders’ perceptions about the cost of inaction (COI) and symbolic resources of the group, such as solidarity. Combining these evaluations creates three trajectories: growth, restriction and decline. We examine this argument by four collective actions carried out by Arab Palestinians citizens in Israel to improve education. The findings show that leaders increased efforts even if they assessed opportunities are limited when they thought that COI is high, since inaction means not only the loss of instrumental costs but also the loss of potential symbolic gains such as recognition of the group collective identity.     

Civic Service and Social Class: The Case of Young Arab Women in Israel

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This study examines the motivations of young Arabs—as a national minority in Israel—for enrolling in civic...     

Portrayals of the internal God among Ashkenazi Jewish Orthodox lesbians in Israel

Abstract

Most of the existing literature on Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewish lesbians focuses on sociological aspects, mainly the negative attitudes held by religious communities towards their sexual identity and the various problems that arise from these. Less attention has been paid to lesbians’ psychological coping mechanisms with the tensions between their two central identities: the religious and the sexual. Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians find themselves in a complicated situation where they remain on the margins of both their “natural” communities: the religious one and the homosexual one. As a result, they feel rejected, isolated, and even punished by society. As believers, God is their ultimate refuge. But there are different conceptions of God, ranging from benevolent to persecutory, accepting or highly judgmental and punishing. This variance has not been considered in regard to the dual identity of Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians. This article focuses on this neglected issue, examining Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians’ conception of God and its relation to their managing the conflict between their apparently conflicting identities.     

Division of Labor and Decision-Making in Arab Families in Israel: Processes of Change and Preservation

The study examines the changes that Arab families in Israel have undergone over three generations. It focuses on change and preservation in the division of labor between spouses, in the attitudes toward it, and оn how decisions are made in the family. It also examines the factors contributing to the preservation of traditional characteristics and those contributing to change. The study included 378 Moslem and Christian Arab women from three generations (grandmothers, mothers, and daughters). The findings indicate significant changes: the younger the generation is, the less traditional are the attitudes it holds and the more egalitarian the life of the couple is. The factors found to promote change were the woman’s education, work outside the home, intensive contacts with the Jewish population, and living near Jewish communities. The factor that was found to contribute most to the preservation of traditional patterns is consensual solidarity with the mother.     

Family Structure and Patterns and Psychological Adjustment to Immigration in Israel

Abstract

The research examines the relationship of family structure (couple-based or single-parent, with or without a grandparent) and family patterns (role division, decision making, and quality of marriage) with the psychological adjustment (satisfaction, and emotional state) of immigrants. The sample included 236 new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia who came to Israel between 1990 and 2001. The findings indicate that the couple-based structure adapts better than the other family structures. The single-parent structure had a very low rate of adjustment. Presence of a grandparent was found to contribute to the adjustment of the single-parent family, but hinder the adjustment of couple-based families. The discussion addresses family resilience among immigrants and highlights the special difficulties of the single- parent family.     

Labour migration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns,trends and prospects

This paper presents an analysis of recent changes in the scale and characteristics of non-national migration to, and employment in, the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. In 1985, the size of the workforce in the Gulf States was 7.1 million. Non-nationals comprised 68% (in Saudi Arabia) to almost 91% (in United Arab Emirates) of the workforce. 63% of the non-nationals were from Asia. Non-national Arab workers represented 30% of the total. In 1985, 36% of all migrant workers came from India and Pakistan. Almost 30% of the non-nationals were employed in services (financial, personal, and community), and almost 29% were in construction. Non-nationals dominate 3 sectors: construction, manufacturing, and utilities. Non-nationals account for a relatively low 55% of the oil sector. The phenomenal rate of growth in non-national workforces during the mid 1970s began to slow in the 1980s. Labor permit issues peaked in the late 1970s and again in 1983-84. The timing and scale of the decline varies by sending country and by destination, reflecting variations in the rate and extent of the economic slowdown in different GCC states, as well as relative wage rates, occupational composition, and organization of the various labor flows. For example, Indian case worker placements fell by 49% between 1983 and 1986, while the number of Filipinos placed fell by 15%. During the 1980s, most Gulf states have increased efforts to enforce labor and residence regulations, but the number of illegal workers has continued to grow. During the 1st half of the 1980s, demand for non-national labor increasingly turned towards new supplies in South and Southeast Asia, notably Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Meanwhile, an increasing share of Arab and South Asian workers were renewing their work permits, often on less favorable terms. The construction sector has had the greatest decline in new labor inflows; however, the service sector is still growing. Wage rates have fallen an average of 20-30%, and up to 45% since 1983. Since 1985, about 615,000 non-national workers have left. Southeast Asian labor has been most acutely affected by the sharp downturn in economic activity. By 1990, the non-national workforce should decline to 4.36 million, but then it will increase slowly. The number and share of Southeast Asians will rise.     

Labor immigration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns,trends and problems

This is an overview of recent labor immigration in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Attention is given to factors contributing to the dependence of these countries on migrant labor, the impact of the decline in oil revenues, and future trends in the size and skill composition of the foreign labor supply.     

Perceiving the other: hostile and danger attributions among Jewish and Arab social work students in Israel

The aim of the present paper is to examine the possible relations of hostile and danger attributions and cultural competence socialization. We conducted an empirical study based on a factorial survey, focusing on the significance of formal cultural competence classes and the ongoing interpersonal contact among members of majority and minority groups: Jewish and Arab social work students in an Israeli University. The experimental design manipulated variables of ethnicity, potential dangerousness, and potential intended harm, using vignettes. The results indicated that Arab students attribute more hostility to both Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking figures than their Jewish counterparts. Jews attributed more danger to Arabs, and Arabs attributed more dangerousness to Jews. The most striking finding is the significant and positive association between multicultural competence socialization and attribution of danger and hostility. The findings are discussed within the framework of ethnic and political conflicts in turbulent areas, anti-oppressive social work, and their implications to social work education.     

Intergroup Encounters Between Jewish and Arab Students in Israel: Towards an interactionist approach1

The paper examines the relationship between self and society from an interactionist approach, within the context of intergroup encounters. One of the main dilemmas found in intergroup encounters is the tension that exists between the salience of the group identity versus personal and interpersonal dimensions. We suggest applying an interactionist approach to dealing with this debate, which emphasizes the situation in which the contact takes place. From this approach, the use of different types of intergroup encounters is discussed by comparing two types of workshops in which Jewish and Arab Israeli students met to work on the Israeli-Arab political conflict. The research questions are analyzed in regard to topics that are central to the Jewish-Arab conflict, such as the Holocaust and Al-Nakba (the Arab epithet for the 1948 war). This paper was written before the present crisis (2000/2002) in Jewish-Palestinian relations .