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

Editor. Regional Roundtable on the Arab Experience of Juvenile Justice: Assessment and Perspectives

As part of PRI’s Middle East and North Africa Office programme, a regional roundtable was held in Amman in February 2007 to assess and evaluate the state of juvenile justice in six Arab Countries (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Yemen, and Jordan). The objectives of the meeting were to set a strategy for the effective implementation of the international obligations of the individual states under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international standards related to juvenile justice. (publisher's abstract)

SFCG Morocco Celebrates New Mediation Centers

From the Common Ground Blog Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Morocco recently celebrated the opening of two mediation centers in Casablanca. The openings mark the culmination of the team’s project aimed at providing mediation training for youth. The project is titled, “Mitigating Communal Conflict by Engaging Youth Constructively in Local Democratic and Economic Development Through the Establishment of Youth Community and Mediation Centers in Casablanca and Tetouan.”

The Taliban and restorative justice

Himal Southasia is a regional magazine published in Nepal. This article in the January 2009 issue by Aunohita Mojumdar, the magazine’s Kabul-based contributing editor, suggests that former Taliban practices were an extreme form of generally-accepted customary laws in the region that are based on tribal codes and restorative justice principles.

Maoz, Ifat. "An Experiment in Peace: Reconciliation-Aimed Workshops of Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian Youth"

The goal of the present study is to examine workshops of Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian youth conducted in the post-Oslo era with the aim of promoting reconciliation and peacebuilding between the sides. The workshops were organized by an Israeli–Palestinian organization, in the framework of a peace education project. In these workshops, youth from pairs of Israeli and Palestinian high schools met for two days to discuss social, cultural and political topics. Each workshop included approximately 20 youths from each side that were led jointly by a Jewish-Israeli and a Palestinian group facilitator. The study examines four facets of these dialogue events, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods: (1) structure of activities and practices of transformative dialogue used in the encounter events; (2) attitudes and mutual stereotypes held by youth from both sides prior to the beginning of the workshops; (3) mutual perceptions and attitudes expressed by participants during the encounter; (4) effects of participation in the workshops on stereotypes held by the Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian youth (pre–post comparisons). "Author's Abstract"

Bargal, David. "Structure and Process in Reconciliation-Transformation Workshops: Encounters Between Israeli and Palestinian Youth"

This article presents a detailed blueprint for conducting reconciliation-transformation workshops among Jewish and Palestinian youth. The workshops are based on interventions that deal with intragroup and intergroup dynamics. Conflict management workshops, which at one time utilized small group interventions to create a bridge between two conflicting parties, are no longer effective. The recent escalation of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has resulted in a vicious cycle of deaths and casualties on both sides. Thus, in the attempt to generate a dialogue between the two groups, reconciliation-transformation measures should be used as a means of reducing the cognitive distortions, anger, hostility, fear, grief, victimization, and humiliation that have developed. The workshop structure and process proposed in the article reflect the ideal design based on interdisciplinary knowledge and experience gained from efforts to build peace in other conflictual contexts such as those of South Africa and South America. (author's abstract)

SHIKAKI, KHALIL and SHAMIR, JACOB. "Determinants of Reconciliation and Compromise Among Israelis and Palestinians"

This joint Palestinian–Israeli study stresses the importance of public opinion in reconciliation processes. It was conducted in the wake of the Arafat–Barak Camp David summit and intended to set up a baseline for sentiments of compromise and reconciliation among Israelis and Palestinians at the peak of the Palestinian–Israeli peace process. The study is based on surveys of representative samples of the Israeli adult population (n = 525) and the Palestinian adult population in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem (n = 1,259). It focuses on the role of expectations for lasting peace and democracy in shaping attitudes towards reconciliation and political compromise. Both publics felt that there is no room for further compromise on the most critical issues of the conflict; the majority in both samples believed that their delegations have made too much of a compromise already. A reliable reconciliation scale was devised from a range of steps listed in the reconciliation literature as prerequisites for successful reconciliation following protracted conflicts. Palestinians overwhelmingly supported reconciliation steps, which promise normalization and a chance for economic well-being. They were more reluctant to support steps towards political alliance and ethos-transforming steps. Israelis’ support for all reconciliation measures except for open borders was noticeably higher. Expectations were found to account for reconciliation and compromise sentiments beyond demographic and political-orientation variables for both the Israeli and Palestinian samples.

Liviatan, Ido and Nadler, Arie. "Intergroup Reconciliation: Effects of Adversary's Expressions of Empathy, Responsibility, and Recipients' Trust"

The present study explores the effects of expressions of empathy for the ingroup’s conflict-related suffering and assumed responsibility for causing it by a representative of the rival outgroup on recipient’s willingness for reconciliation. It is suggested that such positive expressions by an adversary will have positive effects on reconciliation only in the presence of a basic level of trust in the outgroup. In two studies, Israeli-Jewish participants were exposed to a Palestinian leader who either expressed or did not express empathy and/or Palestinian responsibility for Israelis’ suffering. After reading the speech, participants completed a questionnaire that measured their attitudes toward reconciliation with Palestinians. Results of both studies show that whereas expression of empathy led to more positive attitudes when trust was high, it tended to have adverse effects when trust was low. Similar effects were not found for assumed responsibility. Implications for research on intergroup conflict and reconciliation are discussed.

Alberstein, Michal. Israeli-Jewish cultural aspects of an event of violence: between biblical codes and Zionist ideology - Israeli perspective

"The response to the event requires understanding of the cultural perception of justice in the Israeli and Jewish society, as well as some overview of existing restorative justice mechanisms which currently operate in Israeli society. This paper aims to explore the ways in which the truth about such violent events could be revealed, in order to attain justice and to begin constructing mechanisms for redress." (abstract)

Philpott, Daniel. Reconciliation and Iraq: Faith-based Advice for the Next President.

Is peacebuilding, in Iraq or anywhere else, a problem from which religious ethics can provide guidance? Christian and Jewish ethicists in the U.S. had more to say about the justice of defeating Saddam Hussein than about the difficult aftermath. This was to be expected -- after all, they had at their disposal the centuries old tradition of 'just war.' But what ethic should govern when the formal part of a war is over, yet armed factions continue to attack civilians, one another, and the American troops who are there to secure peace? What ethic should dictate action when the fighting fails to abate and when Congress and the American people exhibit wavering support for post war efforts? What we need is a jus post bellum, an ethic for building peace. The seeds for such an ethic lie in the though of Agustine and Aquinas, two major pioneers of the just war tradition, who each taught that a just peace is the purpose of a just war. But few have sought to develop carefully the ethics of war's aftermath. I propose that such an ethic exists. It is rooted in the central message of Christianity and Judaism and also resonates with Islam. It also has a great deal to say about what the next president ought to do in Iraq. The ethic can be called reconciliation. (excerpt)

Vinggaard, Mette and Jensen, Stine Vejlby and Bloch-Jørgensen, Kasper. Achieving Reconciliation in Lebanon?

We wish to examine what the government in Lebanon is doing to achieve reconciliation and national unity between the war-torn populace. Reconciliation and national unity have two different meanings and we see the first as a tool or prerequisite for the second. We want to find out what has been done by the government and what the preliminary effects have been. Furthermore, we find it important to look at the challenges in this process and the possible obstacles to achieving reconciliation and national unity. In addition to this, we will address the society and its role in the process. This seems important, as it may serve as an indicator on which initiatives should be initiated in Lebanon today, and how the contemporary initiatives are working. We argue that if the government programmes are to work, there needs to be a wish and a will coming from the society below. (excerpt)

Iranian woman blinded by acid attack pardons assailant as he faces same fate

from the article by Saeed Kamali Dehghan in The Guiardian: A woman blinded with acid in Iran has pardoned her attacker, a man who was scheduled to lose his sight in an eye for an eye punishment on Sunday. Majid Movahedi, 30, had been taken to Tehran's judiciary hospital to be blinded with acid after being rendered unconscious, but Ameneh Bahrami, his victim, spared him at the last minute, Iran's semi-official Isna news agency reported. Iran's judiciary had given the green light to the administration for the retributive punishment, which would have been the first blinding of a convict in the country, but human rights groups across the world called on Bahrami, who had asked for eye for an eye justice in the court, to pardon him.

Morris, Travis and Trammell, Rebecca. Formal and informal justice and punishment:Urban law and rural mediation rituals in Yemen.

For this article, the authors used ethnographic and interview data collected in 2008 to examine restorative justice rituals performed in Yemen. Interviewees explain that, in rural Yemen, police officers defer to local sheikhs to maintain peace in this region. At the same time, these sheikhs sometimes work with government officials to ensure the early release of prisoners who undergo restorative justice mediation rituals. The authors argue that this produced a hybrid model of rural and state justice in which state agents, such as the police, defer to indigenous, customary law to restore order and justice. This allows those living in rural Yemen to choose the conditions under which justice is meted out. The work advances Braithwaite’s theory of restorative justice by focusing on an understudied aspect of restorative justice, which is the tension and cooperation between formal and informal systems. (author's abstract)

Why Iraq needs a court of truth and reconciliation now

from the article by Faris Harram in niqash: Recently I read the arrest warrant that was issued against [Iraqi Vice President] Tariq al-Hashimi on Interpol’s website. It’s difficult to know whether the man is innocent or guilty and we will all have to wait until Iraqi courts issue a verdict. But reading the warrant made me think about the golden opportunity that Iraq after 2003, when the nation had the chance to really redress the cultural imbalances created during the rule of [former Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein. When Hussein was caught and arrested very few Iraqis spoke out to suggest a reconciliation process. Such a process would have opened the door for Iraq’s elite - intellectuals, academics, sociologists, psychologists, economists and even clerics - to initiate a unique debate.

Cook, Thomas C. Jr. A Personal Call to Peace: An Interview with Elias Jabbour.

This small book consists of transcribed interviews in 1992, 1993, and 2000 with Elias Jabbour, founder and director of the House of Hope International Peace Center in Shefar’am, Israel. Elias Jabbour is an Arab Christian, and the House of Hope is an Arab-initiated international peace center. In the interview, Jabbour talks about the mission of the House of Hope with respect to conflict resolution and peacemaking, the realities of conflict in the Middle East, and interfaith relations and dialogue.

Spak, Simone. 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).

Ritter, Rina and Umbreit, Mark S.. Arab Offenders Meet Jewish Victim: Restorative Family Dialogue in Israel.

A case example of restorative family dialogue involving young Arab offenders who committed an armed robbery against a Jewish victim in Israel who experienced the crime as an act of terrorism was found to be highly effective in resolving the conflict and building stronger relations between the two communities. While on a microbasis this bodes well for future relations in the region, numerous obstacles exist to widespread use of restorative justice dialogue in Israel and the occupied territories. (author’s abstract)

Umbreit, Mark S and Ritter, Rina. Palestinian Offenders Meet Israeli Victim: Restorative Family Dialogue in Israel.

This article is a brief introduction to restorative justice, followed by a case study. The case study involves two young male Palestinian offenders, who were charged with attempted robbery and conspiracy to committing a felony, and their victim, who was a young Israeli woman.

Gabbay, Zvi. Justifying Restorative Justice: A Theoretical Justification for the Use of Restorative Justice Practices.

This article analyzes the philosophical premises of the two main theories of punishment that influence sentencing in most Western countries—retributivism and utilitarianism—and compares them to the basic values and practices of restorative justice. The article argues that if justice is given a deeper meaning and punishment is viewed more broadly, restorative justice practices do not contradict the basic principles upon which the current criminal justice system is based. Rather, restorative justice can be included in the criminal justice system to not only uphold the theories of that system, but also to help amend some of its deficiencies and further its goals. This article begins by exploring the deficiencies of the current criminal justice system and how restorative justice can address these deficiencies by including victims in the process and preparing the offender and community for his or her re-entry into society. The second half of the article argues that restorative justice practices are not only justifiable on a practical level, but that they also satisfy the theoretical requirements of the two major theories of punishment in Western societies—retributivism and utilitarianism. The article concludes with a discussion of how restorative justice differs from the “rehabilitative ideal”, popular in the early part of the 20th century, and whether restorative justice practices can provide enough uniformity and equality to be successful in the criminal justice systems of most Western countries.

Heft, James L. Beyond violence: religious sources of social transformation in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Throughout history, religion and violence have often been linked. Numerous examples may come to mind: the entrance of the people of Israel into Canaan; Islamic conquests in the Mediterranean region; the Crusades; the religious wars of the Reformation; recent conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, between Jews and Muslims, and between various groups within Islam; and more. For many people, especially in the Enlightenment in Western culture and its heirs, the link has led to the argument that religion should be excluded from the public sphere as a force. So writes James Heft near the beginning of the introduction to this volume of essays he has edited. However, it is clear, he continues, that religion cannot be relegated to the sphere of the private; religion still affects public life and global events. Against this background, a dialogue was convened at the University of Southern California in May 2003. Representatives from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam met to discuss this theme: “Beyond Violence: Religious Sources of Social Transformation. The aim was to explore ways in which religion can and does foster peaceful social transformation through reconciliation, peace, and justice. This book consists of chapters based on major presentations by various authors at the conference. Topics include sources of violence; hope and fear in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; peace and mercy with respect to God; Judaism on violence and reconciliation; religion as a force for reconciliation and peace; and Christian resources for nonviolent peace-building.