Community Resilience 'under Fire' – How Israel Survived its War of Independence and is this Relevant for 2023?

• In Event: Israeli Civil Society during Crises and Wars

Abstract

This paper presents findings from historical research that covered the types and causes for civil society organizations within the Jewish Community during Israel's War of Independence (The 1948 War). The study claims that community self-organization and different levels of social capital evolving from it, resulted in community resilience that played a role during the war (both in the frontlines and the home front) and affected post war rehabilitation. The research is based on historical documentation retrieved from more than ten archives, many of which are local archives and provide documentation referring to bottom-up initiatives.
This paper presents findings from such initiatives and analyzes them using theories and conceptualizations of community resilience. The definition of community resilience relies on Ozawa: a community’s ability “to respond to unexpected and unwelcome events in ways that enable groups and individuals to work together to minimize the adverse consequences of such crisis” (2012). A resilient community, it follows, draws its strength and stability from its members’ social capital; this is a concept that captures the phenomenon of social networks and the norms of trust and reciprocity associated with them (Putnam, 1993; 2000). According to Mathbor (2007), “When such elements exist, better preparedness and superior ability to respond to the disaster and its implications effectively are assured”. Aldrich's work on community resilience in view of man-made crisis or natural hazards, points out to various levels of social capital as the key for explaining the degree and effectiveness of rehabilitations and reconstruction following the crisis (Aldrich, 2012).

One of the dimensions of a community that enjoys broad consensus is related to voluntary organized groups. Cnaan, Milofsky, and Hunter demonstrated that members of a community create small and medium-sized organizations to promote various causes. Some of these organizations are informal and tend to be embedded in the communities where they operate. Their activity is often measured more in “process” than in “product” (Cnaan, Milofsky, Hunter, 2008).

The current response of Israeli society to the war in Gaza (2023) can be better understood vis a vis this historical comparative analysis, looking at 1948 and detecting similarities and differences between the CSO's in the past and the present.

Bibliography
Aldrich, D.P. (2012). Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post Disaster Recovery. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.

Cnaan, R.; Milofsky, C.; Hunter, A. (2008). Introduction: Creating a Frame for Understanding Local Organizations. In: Cnaan, R.A., Milofsky, C. (Eds.). Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations. New York, NY: Springer. Pp. 1-19

Kabalo, P. (2020). Israeli Community Action: Living Through the War of Independence. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Mathbor, G. M. (2007). Enhancement of Community Preparedness for Natural Disasters: The Role of Social Work in Building Social Capital Sustainable Disaster Relief and Management. International Social Work, 50: 357–369.


Ozawa, C.P. 92012). Planning Resilient Communities: Insights from Experiences with Risky Technologies. In: Bruce, E.G. (Ed). Collaborative Resilience: Moving through a Crisis to Opportunity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Putnam, R. (1993). Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Putnam, R.D. (2001). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Author

• Paula Kabalo, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev