Since the launching of the Oslo peace process in 1993, the term ‘normalization’ has been used to characterize policies that aim to recognize the state of Israel and to establish ‘normal’ relations between Israelis and Palestinians. Whereas the Palestinian Authority has been supportive of normalization policies, numerous domestic and international critics have argued that these policies serve to perpetuate occupation and its consequences. We examine how Palestinians understand normalization, to what degree they support various forms of ‘normalizing’ relations with Israelis, and how contact with Israelis relates to support for normalization and motivation for revolutionary resistance against the occupation. Based on a cross-sectional survey conducted among an adult sample (N = 159) in the West Bank in 2016, we show that the understanding of normalization was multi-faceted, and that support for contact and collaboration across group lines (i.e., with Israelis) depended on the type of intergroup relations. On average, respondents were more supportive of relations within the political sphere, e.g. civilian policies and diplomatic coordination, than of interpersonal contact, cultural cooperation or security coordination. Support for most types of intergroup relations was related to decreased motivation for revolutionary resistance. In line with research on ‘sedative’ effects of positive intergroup contact in historically unequal societies, we found that past positive contact with Israelis was linked to decrease in Palestinians’ motivation for revolutionary resistance through increased support for interpersonal contact and security coordination as forms of normalization.

This study tests Kanter's theory of structural workplace empowerment It maintains that previous research that attempted to do so failed to account for the effect of an important personal characteristic-i.e. employees' achievement motivation. This body of research also failed to uncover the mechanisms by which personal characteristics of employees influence their perceived empowerment. Data was collected from a sample of 154 hospital nurses, in two major Palestinian hospitals, through a survey design and self-administered questionnaire. The results of multivariate regression analyses and path-analysis indicate that perceived empowerment is indirectly influenced by personal factors (including educational qualifications, experience, position, and motivation towards achievement) through more direct structural determinants (access to formal and informal lines of power). More significandy, motivation has a direct-albeit weakimpact on perceived empowerment, after the effects of the more proximate structural determinants are controlled for.

The aim of this study is to investigate the nature, patterns, and determinants of feminist attitudes and praxis among Palestinian women who are politically active in national and/or women's movements. The novelty of the study lies in its use of multidimensional operational definitions of feminist attitudes and praxis. Previous research is limited to qualitative research performed on small samples with limited conceptual and operational definitions for the term "feminism." Results of the survey on 205 women activists indicate that the feminism of women varies according to the domain of feminism. The majority of women (over 60 percent) support gender equality in access to health care, nutrition, education, employment, wages, inheritance, protection from domestic violence, and autonomy over sexuality and reproductive issues. However, fewer women (less than 50 percent) support gender equality in domestic roles and freedom of movement for women. Women have also achieved more rights vis-à-vis access to health care, nutrition, education, employment, inheritance, protection from domestic violence, and certain forms of autonomy in sexual and reproductive matters than they have in domestic roles, wages, and actual freedom of movement. In addition, we observed that the determinants of feminism vary with its various dimensions and indicators. The issues that require major changes to gender structures and relations are not readily accepted by society; a woman's willingness to support such changes necessitates higher socioeconomic positioning. Actual levels of education, employment, and income are not significant vis-à-vis attitudes toward gender equality in employment opportunities; however, these variables have a significant effect on attitudes toward gender equality in freedom of movement.

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