Perceptions of Violent National-Political Protest among Arabs Living in Israel: A Pilot Study

Keren Cohen-Louck, Moshe Bensimon, Mariana Halellya Malinovsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This pilot study examines the perceptions of Arabs living in Israel (ALI) regarding violent national-political protests (VNPP). ALI, exposed to VNPP by organizations of their own ethnic minority, are trapped in a political and cultural conflict between their state and their nation. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 15 Muslim ALI identified four possible groups presenting four types of VNPP perceptions: (a) justifiers, who regard VNPP as a legitimate means of protecting the Palestinians and who profess Palestinian identity; (b) opponents, who strongly condemn VNPP and who profess Israeli identity; (c) those understanding but disagreeing with VNPP, professing a dual Palestinian-Israeli identity; and (d) the ambivalents, representing people with internal conflicts and mixed feelings regarding the Palestinian VNPP and their own identity. The study contributes to the understanding of how a group of ALI perceives the Palestinian VNPP, and implies that this population consists of different groups, each with its own unique identity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)282-302
Number of pages21
JournalInternational Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
Volume65
Issue number2-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2021

Keywords

  • Arabs living in Israel
  • collective identity
  • ethnic minority
  • trapped minority
  • violence national political protest

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