Crime, Justice, And Underdevelopment: The Palestinians Under Israeli Control

Abstract

Orthodox theories of crime in the Third World and in regions of uneven economic development offer a unilinear explanation of the relationship between economic development and increased crime rates. Simply stated, this Durkheimian position views the transition from traditional to modern society as being associated with the weakening of mechanical forms of solidarity and the emergence of secular and impersonal role structures based on a complex division of labor. Universalistic and achievement criteria replace ascriptive and particularistic values, and deviance-derived social control models based on formalized coercive sanctions substitute for traditional and community-based forms of control. Anomic behavior, frustration of expectations, and norm violation are considered an expected, if transitory, outcome of social change, and are explained on the basis of a clash between modern and traditional value systems.

Experiences of Urban Militarism: Spatial Stigma, Ruins and Everyday Life

“…The policing of Palestinians in Israel typically blurs the line between morality, criminality and security threats as Palestinians have been perceived as immoral, disposed to crime and a potential threat to state security (Zureik, ; Ajzenstadt, ). For example, Israeli police officers have historically approached drug‐dealing among Palestinian citizens as an ethnonational threat because of its perceived aim of demoralizing and ‘drug[ging] the Jewish population’ (Cohen, : 132).…”

“…Indeed, while they stigmatize the 'illegal' building of shacks and dens for animals as signs of backwardness, they also frame and target the Arab districts as dangerous zones of illegality to be policed aggressively. The policing of Palestinians in Israel typically blurs the line between morality, criminality and security threats as Palestinians have been perceived as immoral, disposed to crime and a potential threat to state security (Zureik, 1988;Ajzenstadt, 2002). For example, Israeli police officers have historically approached drug-dealing among Palestinian citizens as an ethnonational threat because of its perceived aim of demoralizing and 'drug[ging] the Jewish population' (Cohen, 1989: 132).…”

Energy Inequality and Instrumental Violence

“…In some countries, the state is the prime arbiter of economic redistribution, while in other nations there may be common enemies that force social cohesion. Zureik (1988), for example, pointed out that in areas such as Palestine where value systems differ traditional theories of deviance may not apply. We note as well that social welfare and health and retirement systems vary substantially across countries.…”

Region, Locality Characteristics, High School Tracking and Equality in Access to Educational Credentials: the case of Palestinian Arab communities in Israel

“…Some researchers argue that such unequal opportunity structures serve as mechanisms, actively maintained by the state, reproducing broader social, economic and political 224 A. E. Mazawi inequalities between Palestinian Arabs and Jews (Al-Haj, 1995;Kraus & Hodge, 1990;Mazawi, 1994;Swirski, 1990;Zureik, 1988).…”