Middle East

Provides articles discussing restorative justice advancements in the Middle East. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

• Israel |
• Lebanon

Lebanon: Using Communtiy Dialogue to Foster

Twenty years of civil war, often along religious and ethnic lines, left Lebanon with a legacy of displaced communities where fear, anger, and mistrust hinder return and reconciliation.

Using Family Group Conferencing in Child Protection Cases in Israel.

Simone Spak is director of Family Group Conferencing in Child Protection, a program of Ashalim (the Association for Planning & Development of Services for Children and Youth at Risk & their Families) in Israel. In this article, she describes a pilot project to use Family Group Conferencing in child protection cases.

The Jirga in modern day Afghanistan

from the article by Ali Gohar in OPen Democracy: ....The working principals of the Jirga are community based and fact finding; it acts like a modern jury system. The Jirga intervenes to halt violence, identify the issues in order to resolve them through mediation or arbitration, and work towards reconciliation and rehabilitation. The Jirga system could also be described in terms of the three aspects of peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding, through the use of Tega (ceasefire), Nagha (ban on arms show), Community Policing (Arbakai) and volunteer force (Lakhkar).

Victim/offender mediation in Turkey

from the post by Janine P. Geske on Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog: After a delegation of members of the Turkish Parliament visited Marquette Law School last month, I had the privilege of traveling to Istanbul to moderate a victim/offender mediation conference for two hundred fifty Turkish prosecutors and judges. There were fourteen of us restorative justice “experts” from ten different countries who were there for three days to talk to the ballroom full of lawyers, who wanted to learn how to best implement Turkey’s already enacted victim/offender mediation process during criminal prosecutions. It was a fabulous experience.

Institute of World Affairs. Community-building in post-war Lebanon: A project to enhance ethnic tolerance and civic identity

The Institute of World Affairs is engaged in a multi-year project to assist in the reconciliation and return of displaced villagers to their homes in a region east of Beirut, Lebanon.

Non-formal education in the Middle East: Giving adolescents a second chance

from Curt Rhodes' article on unicef.org: In May 2005 violence exploded during a soccer game among students who had just enrolled in their town’s first NFE class. Angry over a lost goal, Humam kicked his younger teammate Ayman to the ground. This kind of violence early in the programme jeopardized the entire approach to alternative education. Ayman was a shy, defenseless boy. Other boys like him might feel threatened, and the safety of the learning environment might dissolve if violence went unchecked. The teaching facilitators decided that the violent incident would best be resolved by the students themselves ruling on justice for the harmed and a penalty for the offender. They announced a trial – with students taking the roles of judge, jury, prosecution and defense – and explained the legal process to the two boys and the other students.

Transitional justice in the shadow of the Arab Spring

from the article by Sarah Khatib on Muftah: Whether recovering from the horrific realities of war or the effects of long-standing repressive regimes, societies often find themselves attempting to reconcile their past while safeguarding a better future. Since the end of World War II, this struggle has become an increasingly important feature of the political transitions undertaken by post-conflict countries.

Afghan women trapped in tribal court system

from the article by Jean MacKenzi in Huffington Post: ....Sakina’s imprisonment stems from her attempts to evade a uniquely medieval form of restitution practiced in tribal courts and known as ba’ad. It is Afghanistan’s version of restorative justice in which women and girls are bartered from one family to another as a way to settle a dispute.

Restorative Councils help Pakistani police

from the article in PeaceBuilder: As the founding director of JustPeace International, Ali Gohar (MA ’02) has worked at updating the practice of jirga, an ancient tradition in Pakistan whereby respected and wise elders deliberate in an open community forum to resolve conflicts. In 2003, he and fellow CJP graduate Hassan Yousufza (MA ’03) co-authored Pukhtoon Jirga, a book available for downloading at www.justpeaceint.org. In a 2010 interview with Insight on Conflict, Gohar explained that he was raised in a traditional Pashtun culture: “My family was involved in enmities, which affected my childhood so much that I promised to do something against the traditions of revenge, honour killing, shame factors, and cruelties by the name of honour.” As an adult, he worked as a social welfare commissioner for Afghan refugees, where he saw “more violence, destruction, kidnapping, murder, and displacement of refugees.” In April 2011, Gohar told journalist Lis Horta Moriconi of Comunidad Segura (www.comunidadesegura.org) that EMU professor Howard Zehr and his teachings on restorative justice inspired Gohar to tap his own jirga system as a “means to mitigate conflict and contribute towards peacebuilding.”

Global Peace Index ranks New Zealand as the world's most peaceful country, Iraq as least peaceful

The Global Peace Index is an annual publication from the Institute for Economics and Peace. It ranks countries based on 23 indicators that are divided into three broad categories: (1) measures of ongoing domestic and international conflict, (2) measures of safety and security in society, and (3) measure of militarization.

A Separation

from Judy Bello's entry on Fellowship of Reconciliation: I just saw Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation last night. I’m not going to send formal reviews (do I ever?) but I just want to share my feeling that it is a really great film. ....One aspect of the film surprised me because it wasn’t the aspect of the film that was publicized. Farhadi’s depiction of the Iranian justice system as chaotic, overwhelmed, but intensely immediate and direct, is quite powerful as a ground for other aspects of the drama.... One might say that the film gives an insight into what might be right about the Iranian system in comparison with our own.

Irani, George E. Islamic Mediation Techniques for Midde East Conflicts

Irani describes the problems of using western forms of conflict resolution in the Middle East. He describes the rituals of suhl and musalaha. In doing so, he stresses the need for cultural understanding in peacemaking processes.

Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. "Education for coexistence in Israel: Potential and challenges."

Coexistence projects, as described by Abu-Numer, consist of efforts to educate participants to achieve peaceful coexistence between majority and minority groups. While the purpose is laudable, Abu-Nimer maintains that the projects have limitations and shortcomings. In this chapter then, he surveys certain types of coexistence initiatives carried out in Israel by Arabs and Jews. Limitations of the goals, processes, structures, and content of such projects are identified. This leads to discussion of the implications of these limitations on the concepts of peace, coexistence, justice, and reconciliation between Arabs and Jews in Israel. In view of all of this, Abu-Nimer suggests ways to adapt such initiatives.

Segal, Eliezer. "Jewish perspectives on restorative justice."

In discussing Jewish perspectives with respect to restorative justice, Segal points to the central importance of Torah in Jewish life. Torah, meaning "instruction", refers to a complex set of commandments from God to the people of Israel. In a strict sense, Torah consists of the first five books of the Jewish Scriptures. In a broad sense, Torah consists of those books and the subsequent tradition of commentaries on them. Adherence or obedience to divine law or Torah is in many ways more important than adherence to doctrine. At the same time, certain key doctrinal ideas in the Scriptures form the foundation for the Torah way of life: humanity created in the divine image; the common origin of all humanity; peace; liberty; love for others; the dialectical interplay of mercy and justice; and the freedom of the will (allowing us to turn from evil). With all of this as background, Segal discusses certain key ideas and practices in the Torah and in Jewish life that bear upon the nature of wrongdoing and response to it: restoration; punishment; and atonement. For example, property crimes required restoration of the stolen or damaged property, or compensation for the property. In addition to financial penalties, possible punishments included exile, corporal punishment, and capital punishment. It is noteworthy that rabbinic law re-interpreted many possible forms of corporal punishment (the "eye for an eye" of Exodus 21:22-24) into a system of compensation, and it made capital punishment very difficult to administer. Nevertheless, the Torah did not see a fundamental inconsistency between the imposition of punishment and what we might consider the more restorative aspects of adjudicating wrongdoing in the Torah.

Nathan C. Funk. and Irani, George E. "Rituals of reconciliation: Arab-Islamic perspectives."

Many in the Middle East view conflict resolution as a Western program, and therefore as an outside, imposed practice with little regard for the indigenous (i.e., Middle Eastern) context. Irani and Funk contend that Western policymakers, in efforts to build peace in the Middle East, should engage in dialogue and peace strategies that take into account indigenous rituals and processes of reconciliation. Hence, in this paper they deal with a number of key topics: the limitations of the applicability of Western approaches to conflict resolution in non-Western contexts; traditional Arab-Islamic approaches to conflict resolution; and, in particular, Middle Eastern rituals of settlement and reconciliation. Furthermore, they draw out implications for policymakers and practitioners in promoting peace efforts.

van Dijk, Jan. Crime and victim surveys

In the call for tougher policies on crime – harsh, deterrent punishment of offenders – many assert that crime victims, out of fear and anger, demand such policies. Does this assertion accurately characterize the perspective of victims? And, if this is the generally accepted perception of crime victims, does this perception obstruct the inclusion of victims in criminal justice proceedings out of concern that they are too emotional and vindictive? In this context, van Dijk examines international crime surveys to determine crime victimization rates, fear of crime and efforts at crime prevention, victims’ attitudes toward sentencing, victims’ satisfaction with the police, the need for victim support, and implications for further research and policy.

Groenhuijsen, Marc. Conflicts of victims’ interests and offenders’ rights in the criminal justice system- a European perspective.

In recent years, the interests of victims have risen to the fore in many respects in the criminal justice system. At the same time, Groenhuijsen remarks, it is not clear how the inclusion of victims’ interests in the criminal justice process relates to the legal status of offenders or people accused of a crime in that same process. Two sorts of answers to this issue have emerged. One, some hold that too much attention has been paid to the legal rights of the accused. Two, some hold that there is no conflict between victims’ rights and offenders’ rights; in fact, the rights of both coincide. In this context, Groenhuijsen argues that there is no simple, straightforward, “either/or�? answer. The two sets of rights need to be differentiated to find areas of commonality and elements of conflict that cannot be denied or easily resolved.

Van Ness, Daniel W. Normalisation, Reintegration and Restorative Justice

Normalisation has much in common with the criminological theories of reintegration and restorative justice. Each is concerned with easing the entry or re-entry of previously-stigmatised individuals into the community as productive members. These movements are surfacing as a reaction to more formalised, offender-oriented (or patient-oriented) interventions, but they also challenge attitudes within the community. The emphasis on community reflected in each of these movements is not new; in fact, it is expressed in Jewish and Christian traditions and in the Old and New Testaments.

Spak, Simone. Pilot Project for F.G.C. for Child Protection in Israel

In April 2001 the Service for Children and Youth in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Israel together with Ashalim, (The Association for Planning & Development of Services for Children and Youth at Risk & their Families) decided to launch an extensive pilot project of F.G.C. for child protection. Two previous attempts at implementing F.G.C. for child protection met with difficulties and failed. The current project invested in creating interest and trust in the F.G.C. approach as a suitable alternative method of dealing with child abuse and neglect. Eighteen municipalities all over the country were chosen to participate: cities and rural settlements in the center and the south of the country, small Arab towns in the north, and Bedouin settlements in the Negev desert. The unique aspect of this presentation lies in the application of F.G.C. in such a diversity of cultures and communities. This presentation focuses on the value of F.G.C. as a universal approach applicable in a wide range of family and cultural contexts.

Arsovska, Jana. Cost A21: New WG on RJ, Violent Conflicts and Mass Victimisation

A new Working Group within the COST A 21 was established in August 2005. The main objective of the Cost A21 is to enhance and to deepen knowledge on theoretical and practical aspects of restorative justice in Europe. The intention of this Working Group 4 is to provide a better view on whether and how restorative justice can help in bringing more valuable solutions aiming to support people living in various (post)conflict areas. The Working Group will mainly look at a number of conflicts occurring in different regions through the lenses of the UN principles on restorative justice, and it will try to evaluate the relevance and the use of these principles in the different contexts. The Working Group met for the first time in Maastricht (The Netherlands) in October 2005 in order to discuss the agenda for 2005.2006. The next meeting of this group will be in Tel Aviv (Israel) in March 2006 linked to a workshop organised by the Bar Ilan University and that will take place on 5 March. (excerpt)