Abstract
In the protests against the proposed judicial reform that began in early 2023 in Israel, the lack of participa• Policymakers should make efforts to reduce the socioeconomic gaps between older people from minority and majority groups.tion of Israeli Arabs, especially the absence of older Israeli Arabs, was noticeable. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the attitudes of older Israeli Arabs regarding the proposed judicial reform in Israel and to explore the reasons for their absence from the protests. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 older Israeli Arabs. Thematic analysis revealed two main themes. The first pertained to the attitudes of this cohort in relation to the judicial reform. Participants unanimously opposed the judicial reform and believed it could seriously harm Israeli Arabs by increasing discrimination against them in employment, housing, and the receipt of social and health services. The second theme pertained to the reasons for Israeli Arabs’ nonparticipation in the protests, which included: 1) perceiving the protests as an internal Jewish conflict; 2) being accustomed to discrimination; 3) a perceived lack of political efficacy 3) having concerns about openly expressing political positions; 4) being in poor health; and 5) being a woman. Our findings provide important insights regarding the barriers to participation in politics and decision-making processes among older people in minority groups.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Journal of Aging and Social Policy |
Early online date | 29 Apr 2024 |
DOIs | |
State | E-pub ahead of print - 29 Apr 2024 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 Taylor & Francis.
Keywords
- Discrimination
- judicial reform
- political participation
- protests
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Demography
- Gerontology
- Life-span and Life-course Studies