Miriam Billig

Is My Home My Castle? Place Attachment, Risk Perception, and Religious Faith:

This study dealt with place and home attachment of Jewish settlers in the Gaza region affected by hostilities incurring risk to the settlers’ lives. It evaluated the variables related to the settlers’ risk perception and their tendency to stay or leave their homes in a sample consisting of 156 of 947 households interviewed by telephone. The researchers evaluated how risk perception and the tendency to stay were related to demographic characteristics such as gender and length of time living in the region and to cultural characteristics such as place and home attachment, ideology, and religious faith. In spite of the dangerous environment, the settlers were found to have a strong tendency to stay in the area, related to their firm ideology of holding on to the land, profound religious faith, strong place and home attachment, and low risk perception of their situation.

Anticipatory stress in the population facing forced removal from the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government decided in March 2005 to remove the settlers of the Gaza Strip, a process known as “disengagement.” One person per household residing in 13 settlements was randomly selected for a telephone interview that included the Demoralization Scale of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview. Women respondents and those with fewer years of education, higher risk perception, greater alienation from government, poorer perceived health, no social support outside the West Bank or Gaza, worse religious coping, and residence in a secular settlement had enhanced risk for higher emotional distress. Positive current satisfaction with life was associated with greater place attachment, less risk perception, stronger ideological stand, less feeling of alienation from the government, a more positive view of the future, and plans to return to Gaza. This population, as others in transitional states, may be at risk for emotional distress compared with some but not all stable Israeli groups.

The protective effect of religiosity under terrorism.

Abstract Religious observance has a protective effect on the mental health of individuals facing adverse events. Its role under terrorism has been less investigated. Gaza and West Bank settlers, both secular and those keeping different degrees of observance, have faced terrorism in recent years. We investigated their PERI–Demoralization mean scores following terrorist attacks controlling for confounding variables. The results showed that the higher the religiosity the lower the demoralization mean score. This protective effect lessened when there was dissonance between the degree of religiosity of the respondent and the religious observance of the settlement of residence.

Effect of Settlement Size and Religiosity on Sense of Place in Communal Settlements

The effect of religiosity and settlement size on sense of place was studied among residents of Jewish communal settlements in Judea and Samaria. Sense of place was defined as a multidimensional concept of cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions. Sense of place was found to be significantly higher for religious than for secular residents. Sense of place was found to be higher for religious residents in small settlements, whereas for secular residents it was higher in large settlements. The study suggests reasons for these findings.

Building Walls Of Brick And Breaching Walls Of Separation

The significance of a physical separation in housing between socioeconomically different populations as subjectively evaluated by the residents involved was examined in three new housing developments built in neglected neighborhoods in Ramat Gan, Israel. Each development consists of five to seven modern new condominium buildings, very different in appearance and status from the adjacent old buildings. One hundred twenty women were interviewed from the new and old buildings. The everyday encounter between them takes place in the common public services, on the street, and through the view from their windows. A clear physical boundary was important to the groups of widely differing status and affected their attitudes and behavior. Physical separation between the new and the old buildings improved satisfaction with their housing among both population groups. In the absence of physical separation, dissatisfaction, disengagement, and indications of ethnic tension were more likely to be found.

The Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (1967–2008): historical overview

This study describes the establishment and subsequent growth of settlements in Judea and Samaria, areas captured from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967. In particular, the motivations and processes of these undertakings are examined from three different perspectives: time, place and society. A distinction is made between settlements that were initiated or tacitly approved by the government and those that were undertaken by private organizations or individuals, often flaunting a government freeze on building. The relative impact of ideology versus pragmatic considerations in shaping colonization in this region is also assessed. Quantitative data on demographic developments are integrated into the presentations of various communal morphologies that constitute the physical configurations and social fabric of the settlement enterprise.

Smoking behaviour under intense terrorist attacks

BACKGROUND Smoking is one of the varied psychological reactions to stress. This study examined the rate and changes in cigarette smoking among former Gaza and current West Bank Jewish settlers subjected to direct and indirect terrorist attacks during the Al-Aksa Intifada. The relationship with degree of religious observance and emotional distress was explored as well. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, the respondents were settlers randomly selected and interviewed by telephone (N = 706). The interview schedule included socio-demographic items, information on direct exposure to terrorist attacks (e.g. threat to life or physical integrity, personal losses, property damage) and on steady and changes in smoking habits, and a scale to measure emotional distress. RESULTS In contrast with the country population, a larger percentage of settlers who smoked increased the number of cigarettes consumed with exposure to terrorism (10 and 27%, respectively). Respondents who were injured or had their home damaged reported a higher rate of smoking during the preceding year (30 and 20%, respectively). Emotional distress was related to cigarette smoking, but not in the controlled analysis. Religious observance had no effect. CONCLUSION Direct or indirect exposure to terrorist attacks had an impact on smoking prevalence rates and on changes in smoking habits. Studies investigating reactions to traumatic events should include a detailed section on smoking while mental health interventions should address the needs of smokers.

Introduction: Judea and Samaria Jewish settlers and settlements – cultural sociology of unsettled space

Ever since the Six Day War (1967), the way in which the territories in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are viewed has been a central issue in Israeli politics. Even the name given to these areas is a bone of contention and the way in which they are defined by an individual is an indication of his political stance: ‘the West Bank’, ‘the occupied territories’, ‘the liberated territories’, or simply ‘Judea and Samaria’. Large numbers of studies have been, and are still being written about the area in its various contexts. It is a test case for the understanding of issues connected with the world of international relations and strategy, geo-politics, nationalism, public policy, security policy and so forth. This special volume is intended to complement the vast existing literature and to deal with a limited issue that is unique to the Jewish society of Judea and Samaria – that is to say, to the world of the settlements and the settlers. In our opinion it is appropriate to use Swidler’s term, ‘unsettled culture’ here, since it fits this society which, after all, is not isolated from the broader contexts and is constantly the scene of alertness, frenetic activity, readiness to react, and preparedness for what it considers to be persistent threats – from terrorist attacks on the part of the Palestinians to peace agreements that would include evacuation of the settlements by an Israeli government. With regard to the settlers and the settlements – the settler population exists alongside Israeli society, it is located west of the Green Line and its relations with residents of sovereign Israel are complex; it is both integrated with, but also closed off from them. This, for example, finds expression in the fact that the vast majority of the settlements in Judea and Samaria are community settlements which are particular about accepting in their midst only residents that observe a unique kind of lifestyle, the central component of which is a high level of religious observance and a traditional family structure. Therefore the settlers and the settlements, unlike most other communities in the State of Israel, form a homogenous area from the religious, cultural and socio-political points of view.

Empowering peripheral communities by using place-identity: Israeli student villages as a platform for a servant creative class

This study attempts to examine the conditions under which place-identity creates a sense of ideological commitment towards the community, among young people belonging to the creative class. Using a narrative analysis of the experiences and attitudes of “student village” members in Israel, the study proposes a linear-chronological model, which presents the conditions for creating ideology-rooted place-identity among students. This place-identity is promoted by social associations that provide this class with suitable conditions in order to make living in student villages satisfying and attractive from a material, social, and personal point of view. Ideology-rooted place-identity is accomplished by helping the students develop an ideological commitment towards the population via volunteer-work with and integration into the community. In this way, the study suggests a unique model that encourages the development of a “servant creative class” whose members may be recruited, not just to live in peripheral towns, but also to be committed to the community as a whole. In addition, this model may also develop better relations between young creative class newcomers and disadvantaged local communities.