New Article: Joronen, Ill Treatment of Palestinian Children under the Israeli Military Order

Joronen, Mikko. “Politics of Precarious Childhood: Ill Treatment of Palestinian Children under the Israeli Military Order.” Geopolitics 21.1 (2016): 92-114.

 

URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2015.1123251

 

Abstract

This paper examines the corollaries of the exceptional treatment of Palestinian children under the Israeli military rule. It is shown how the widespread and systematic ill treatment of Palestinian children accrues from exceptional provisions and lack of legal cover of the Israeli military law. Such lack constitutes a precarious condition under which Palestinian children are not treated as children but as a security threat legally accountable for their acts, in many respects with ways similar to adults. Precarity, the paper argues, is produced through three conditions. First, the lack of protection is institutionalised through the legal, territorial and population-regulating techniques internal to state channels. Second, the lack of protection delegates significant power to the discretion of what Judith Butler calls the ‘petty sovereigns’ – to the soldiers, interrogators, police officers, etc., who are asked to rely on their own judgment when making decisions on the fundamental matters regarding the order and justice, even life and death of children. Third, the use of discretionary power is not only encouraged by the legal system and its exceptions; it also works in tandem with the institutional culture of impunity that accepts the violent disciplining, even torture, of Palestinian children.

 

 

 

New Article: Farah and Shani, Assessing the Safety of Israeli Arab Children in their Travel to and from School

Farah, Haneen, and Maor Shani. “A Multi-Faceted Approach for Assessing the Safety of Israeli Arab Children in their Travel to and from School.” Paper submitted for the 94th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January 2015, Washington D.C.

 

URL: http://repository.tudelft.nl/view/ir/uuid:6d62f54d-51f7-4afe-9fd4-b88a4b3b6fda/

 

Abstract
Road crashes are considered as one of the main threats to human life around the world. Children pedestrians are most at risk to be seriously injured in road crashes, in particular, those from economically disadvantaged communities. Various factors contribute to their high involvement in road crashes. Some of these factors are related to the characteristics of the children and their parents, while others are related to the physical urban road environment. The share of Arab children in Israel ( The present research, a part of a larger ongoing project, proposes a multifaceted approach and applies it to a real case study in the Arab local council of Jadeidi-Makr in Israel. The proposed approach is based on: (1) data collected by means of questionnaires posted to the children and their parents concerning the travel characteristics of the children to school; (2) objective data on the children walking routes collected by GPS-enabled watches; and (3) road safety auditing of the school environment and the main routes to the school.
The results of this study found that children’s characteristics, their travel behavioral patterns, their parents’ safety perceptions, and the road environment are all significant factors when considering children’s safety as pedestrians. Thus, improvements in the infrastructure, children and parents’ safety awareness, and police enforcement are essential to increase Arab children’s safety. The responsible authorities, decision and policy makers are called to join forces and take immediate actions to realize the suggested improvements in reality.

 

 

New Article: Magid et al, Increased Inequality in Mortality From Road Crashes Among Arabs and Jews in Israel

Magid, Avi, Shalhevet Leibovitch-Zur, and Orna Baron-Epel. “Increased Inequality in Mortality From Road Crashes Among Arabs and Jews in Israel.” Traffic Injury Prevention 16.1 (2015): 42-47.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2014.908289

 

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies in several countries have shown that the economically disadvantaged seem to have a greater risk of being involved in a car crash. The aim of the present study was to compare rates and trends in mortality and injury from road crashes by age among the Arab and Jewish populations in Israel.

Methods: Data on road crashes with casualties (2003–2011) from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics were analyzed. Age-adjusted road crash injury rates and mortality rates for 2003 to 2011 were calculated and time trends for each age group and population group are presented. Time trend significance was evaluated by linear regression models.

Results: Arabs in Israel are at increased risk of injury and mortality from road crashes compared to Jews. Road crash injury rates have significantly decreased in both populations over the last decade, although the rates have been persistently higher among Arabs. Road crash mortality rates have also decreased significantly in the Jewish population but not in the Arab population. This implies an increase in the disparity in mortality between Jews and Arabs. The most prominent differences in road crash injury and mortality rates between Arabs and Jews can be observed in young adults and young children.

Conclusions: The reduction in road crashes in the last decade is a positive achievement. However, the reductions are not equal among Arabs and Jews in Israel. Therefore, an increase in the disparities in mortality from road crashes is apparent. Public health efforts need to focus specifically on decreasing road crashes in the Arab community.

New Article: Baron-Epel & Ivancovsky, Unintentional Injuries in Minorities: A Case Study of Arab Israeli Children

Baron-Epel, Orna, and Michal Ivancovsky. “A Socio-Ecological Model for Unintentional Injuries in Minorities: A Case Study of Arab Israeli Children.” International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 22.1 (2015): 48-56.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17457300.2013.855794

 

Abstract

Minority children have often been reported to be at high risk of injury. The higher levels of reported unintentional injuries among Arab children compared to Jewish children in Israel are mainly due to pedestrian traffic crashes, falls and burns. Arab children aged 1–4 years have a higher relative risk of injury compared to Jews. We suggest a socio-ecological model to explain these differences in risk based on individual, interpersonal, community and societal ecological levels of society. Each level is divided into social and physical environments and behaviour. Two main factors may contribute to the high rates of injury among Arab children: the quality of the physical environment in which the children live and play and the levels of child supervision. Socio-economic status may contribute to these differences at all ecological levels of society. This approach could be useful for researchers and practitioners to analyse similar issues in other communities and help develop appropriate interventions.