Read more
When the 1948 Israeli War of Independence broke out, population centers were rocked by sniper fire, bombings, and roadside ambushes. As the fighting moved out of the cities into desert areas, private citizens and community organizations left behind organized to revitalize and restore life in their devastated communities. In Israeli Community Action, Paula Kabalo presents a vivid portrait of these civilians who strove to help each other cope with the realities of war.
Kabalo explores how civilian militias were recruited, how neighborhoods were protected, how older populations were enlisted into the war effort, and how women were organized to provide medical aid or establish refugee centers. She demonstrates that each phase of the war brought along new challenges to the population of the young state of Israel, but she also illuminates how the engagement of Israelis in community efforts brought them together and shored them up to face the future in their new country.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Association, Efficacy, Capabilities
I. Civic Association and Self-Help in a Voluntary Community, November 1947¿May 14, 1948
1. Multiple Paths to Community Resilience¿Displacement as an Impetus to Association
2. Economic War and War Economy¿The Challenge to Business and Commercial Life
3. "Literally Abandoned to Starvation"¿The Bureaucratization of Relief and the Question of Responsibility for Soldiers Families
II. Association and Self-Help in a Sovereign Society¿May 14, 1948¿1949
4. The Displaced Communities Regroup
5. Emergency Economy amid Emergency Normalcy ¿the Quest for Regularization, Improvement, and Influence
6. Soldiers' Wives and a 'Non-Governmental Government Committee for Inductees' Families'¿the Question of Responsibility
7. The War Veterans' Civilian Struggle¿Discharged Soldiers and Disabled Veterans Confront the Elected Echelon
Conclusion
Bibliography
List of Archives'
Index
About the author
Paula Kabalo is Director of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She is author of
Shurat Hamitnadvim: The Story of a Civic Association (in Hebrew).
Summary
In Israeli Community Action, Paula Kabalo presents a vivid portrait of these civilians who strove to help each other cope with the everyday realities of the Israeli War of Independence.
