Israelis Have Difficulty in Coping Psychologically with the Intifada, Haifa
University Survey Finds
Press Release - University of Haifa
Haifa. October 24-If Israel has won the Intifada war, as some pundits have
claimed, it is having a much more difficult time in the psychological battle
against terror. This is no wonder, when one in every five Israelis has lost
a relative or friend in a terrorist or war event since the outbreak of the
Intifada four years ago.
This is the gloomy picture that emerges from a recent survey
conducted by the University of Haifa's Center for National Security Studies.
Among the statistics revealed:
A total of 21.8% of Israel's Jewish population has experienced
the loss of a relative or friend through terror or war since the outbreak of
the Intifada. Among the Israeli Arab population, the figure is 11.3%.
Nearly one third of the Israeli public (28.1%) will have nothing
to do with any event, person, or situation that reminds them of a terrorist
incident.
Two thirds of all Israelis report less faith in the ability of
the government to protect them since the Intifada. Women especially-72.1%--
think the government powerless in this respect.
Perhaps worse is a sense of hopelessness that is prevalent. More than half
of the Israeli public-51.8%--feels less in control of factors affecting
their lives in the wake of the Intifada. And 56.3% are more pessimistic
about their own well-being and welfare in the future.
Center director Prof. Gabriel Ben-Dor and research associate Dr. Daphna
Canetti-Nisim based their survey analysis on telephone interviews conducted
in late September with 1,613 respondents.
Israel's Arab population, the Haifa University researchers found, is even
more despondent. This is despite the fact that they have been less exposed
directly or indirectly, through casualties among friends and relatives, to
acts of terror. In addition, twice as many Jewish Israelis than Arab
Israelis (15.1% vs. 6.5%) report having been injured or having a family
member or friend who was injured through terror or war in the past four
years. The Jewish population is also much more likely to have witnessed or
to have been present in this period at an act of terror or war with
casualties (14.5% among Jews, 6.3% among Arabs).
Over 60% of the Arab community is pessimistic about the future, compared to
54% of the Jewish population. Israeli Arabs are also more likely to refrain
from activities or people that remind them of terrorist incidents (43.2% vs.
21.8% among the Jewish population). They also are more preoccupied
mentally, through thoughts and mental pictures, with the consequences of
terror (33.4% as against 27.5% of the Jews who have such nightmares).
IMRA: The following data tables are from the Hebrew version of the press
release:
% of respondents who replied "yes" to various questions - by question:
Someone among family or friends died in a terror or war incident since the
start of the Intifada:
Total 18.7% Jews 21.8% Israeli Arabs 11.3%
Someone among family or friends wounded in a terror or war incident since
the start of the Intifada:
Total 12.5% Jews 15.1% Israeli Arabs 6.5%
Were you witness to a terror incident or at a place where there were dead or
wounded since the start of the Intifada:
Total 12.1% Jews 14.5% Israeli Arabs 6.3%
Do you decline to engage in activities or be involved with people or
situations that remind you of terror attacks?
Total 28.1% Men 24.2% Women 31.6% Jews 21.8% Israeli Arabs 43.2%
Images and thoughts about terror attacks come back to you
Total 29.2% Men 24.3% Women 33.7% Jews 27.5% Israeli Arabs 33.4%
In the wake of the Intifada, feel have less control on elements affecting
your life
Total 51.8% Men 45.6% Women 57.4% Jews 51.5% Israeli Arabs 52.5%
In the wake of the Intifada, feel more pessimistic about personal conditions
and future conditions
Total 56.3% Men 54% Women 58.3% Jews 54.2% Israeli Arabs 61.2%
In the wake of the Intifada, have less confidence in the ability of the
Government to protect you
Total 66.2% Men 59.7% Women 72.1% Jews 62.5% Israeli Arabs 75.1%
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