Support Services for Victims of Political Violence and Their Families: A Comparison Between Israelis and Palestinians

This report summarizes interviews with five social workers who helped families that experienced political violence, and with 16 families that lost a family member due to terrorist activity in Israel and Palestine from 2000 to 2005. Results revealed a great disparity between the Israelis and the Palestinians on the types of and extent of benefits and support services given to the victims and their families of a terrorist incident. Israeli has a well-established system of victim compensation and has immediate and long-term benefits. Palestinian victims and their families have few services, little money for reparation, and no well-organized system for the support and compensation for acts of political violence.