Although most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are experiencing an increase in the age at marriage, early marriage in Palestine continues to be relatively high. About one in 10 Palestinian women ages 15 to 19 is married, although there are inter-regional differences (see Table 1). Yet, an increasing number of women are delaying marriage and remaining single—also about one in...

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is characterized by its unknown outcomes and consequences for the families involved. The purpose of this study was to identify family processes under conditions of prolonged uncertainty. Data were collected from both Israeli and Palestinian families in the West Bank by means of semi-structured interviews. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed cross-c...

This research examined virtual-human interactions as a new form of simulated contact between members of groups in conflict. A virtual human representing an outgroup member (a Palestinian) interacted with 60 Jewish Israeli participants in an experimental study. We manipulated postural mimicry by the virtual interaction partner during a conversation about a sensitive conflict issue. Mimicry incre...

AIM To compare a cohort of corneal graft patients in east Jerusalem with one in Sweden, concerning diagnosis, sex, patient age, preoperative visual acuity in both eyes, and type of operation. METHODS Standard forms developed for the Swedish Corneal Transplant Register were used for data collection at the time of operation. RESULTS In east Jerusalem, keratoconus accounted for 51% of the graf...

Previous studies have shown that physicians tend to underestimate the risks to patients of radiation exposure. This study in 2 Palestinian hospitals aimed to assess physicians' knowledge about the risks associated with the use of radiological examinations. A questionnaire answered by 163 physicians revealed many gaps in knowledge. Only one-third of physicians had received a radiation protection...

Understanding the Spread of Malignant Conflict: A Dynamical Systems Perspective Naira Musallam, Peter T. Coleman, and Andrzej Nowak “The other day I was taking a walk across the shore of Jaffa [a Palestinian town prior to 1948] and I was looking at the houses that now have been converted into these galleries [...] They are very nice houses with traditional Arabic Architecture, but I got so upse...

Building upon psychological conflict theory, on the one hand, and item-response models, on the other, the present paper develops an integrated methodology that aims at differentiating the various ways of criticizing Israel. An application of this methodology to the Anti-Semitism and Criticism of Israel (ASCI) survey found two ways of criticizing Israel resulting from two different and antipodal...

We present an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) training program provided to 20 special education teachers in a Palestinian Arab community in Israel. The training program consisted of didactic workshops interleaved with on-site supervision. Instructional goals included creating awareness, imparting knowledge, and assisting teachers to develop and use AAC within their classrooms. ...

One significant socio-psychological barrier for peaceful resolution of conflicts is each party's adherence to its own collective narrative. We hypothesized that raising awareness to the psychological bias of naïve realism and its identification in oneself would provide a path to overcoming this barrier, thus increasing openness to the adversary's narrative. We conducted three experimental studi...