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This study aims to explore the effect of mental health in terms of depression, anxiety, stress, fear of COVID-19 and quality of life (QoL) on the reluctance to be vaccinated in a population of Palestinian adults living in occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

The authors recruited 1,122 Palestinian adults who consented to participate in the study; 722 were females, and the mean age of the sample was 40.83 (SD 8.8). Depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS), World Health Organization QoL-BREF, FCov-19 and reluctance to the vaccine scale were administered; hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test vaccine reluctance as a dependent variable, and mental health, fear of COVID-19 and QoL as independent variables. This study hypothesized influence of such variables on the vaccine choice with differences due to the participants’ geographical locations.

Findings showed an effect of mental health, particularly depression, QoL and fear of COVID on vaccine reluctance, with depression and fear of COVID in the West Bank and Gaza, while in Israel, QoL played a role in vaccination choices.

The future needs to be comprehended more thoroughly to discover mutations and fluctuations over time in vaccine hesitancy and the increasing role of psychological distress, diminished QoL and fear of Covid-19. Online recruitment might not have allowed the study to include the most disadvantaged strips of the Palestinian population.

Human rights perspectives must be considered in public health and public mental health policies to ensure the QoL and well-being for the Palestinian population during and following the pandemic.

The crumbling of the Palestinian health-care system exacerbated the sense of dread among the population and made them less likely to vaccinate. The pandemic-like spread of Covid-19 prompts a plea for the global community to actively advocate for the urgent re-establishment of equity, autonomy and durability of the medical infrastructure in the occupied territories and equal entitlements for the Palestinians in Israel.

The results demonstrated the importance for public mental health to consider the multiple levels implied in the vaccine refusal in Palestine and Israel among the Palestinian population.

This article argues that truth recovery practices that take place against the backdrop of ongoing settler colonial erasure, as is the case when considering Zionist colonial violence in Palestine, must focus on combating state-sponsored attempts at erasure, rather than solely providing a platform for the expression of settler guilt.

The article analyses existing literature on truth recovery practices that take place in Palestine, including the work of a variety of local NGOs engaged in such praxis, with a view to considering how this form of transitional justice has germinated incrementally in the space. Critical reflection on the work of a variety of grassroots NGOs is situated alongside other forms of transitional justice intervention.

The article argues that in the context of enduring settler colonialism, the truth regarding past Zionist atrocities in historic Palestine must avoid being curated in the present day in such a way as to allow for damage limitation rather than the platforming of conversations around meaningful repair. Truth recovery for recovery's sake serves only to reinforce the settler colonial status quo rather than properly agitate for a full decolonisation, one that demands and facilitates indigenous Palestinian return.

The article challenges prevailing notions of the role of truth recovery practices in spaces of enduring settler colonial value. It makes clear that the role of truth recovery interventions in sites where colonial violence endures must be to actively and meaningfully support activities that reinforce native identity, history and presence on the land. Moreover, by reference to existing grassroots attempts at truth recovery in Palestine, the article provides an original and clear argument that states it is simply not enough to platform the revelation of uncomfortable truths or to provide opportunities for settler violence of the past to be “confessed” in public if it is disassociated from challenging the present-day structures of ongoing oppression.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important corporate activity that affirms the importance of giving back to the community. This research aims to examine the CSR practices of Palestinian Islamic banks and their contribution to socio-economic development. There is an ongoing debate regarding Islamic financial institutions’ profit motive versus their motivation to achieve human welfare. The Palestinian Islamic banks are not disconnected from this debate, and this paper aims to discuss this issue.

For the purpose of assessing the CSR practices of Palestinian Islamic banks, a secondary analysis of the banks’ annual reports was carried out. In addition, 11 structured interviews were conducted with Islamic banks’ practitioners at the decision-making level and with some of the banks’ Sharīʿah board members to gather their views on CSR. These have been analyzed in light of the actual CSR practices disclosed in each bank’s annual reports.

The main research findings suggest that the CSR practice is highly valued by the Palestinian Islamic banks, but it is small and has marginal effects on the community’s socio-economic development. Another important observation from report analysis is that Islamic banks have great potential for expansion, given that the demand for Islamic financial transactions is double of what Islamic banks currently offer. If Islamic banks live up to that opportunity, they could deliver more in CSR practices, which is their ultimate goal according to the majority of the interviewees.

Existing literature has presented findings on the CSR of Palestinian corporations in general, but there is no available literature on the CSR practices of Palestinian Islamic banks. This research attempts to fill in the gap by presenting preliminary findings on Palestinian Islamic banks’ CSR practices.

The study aims at estimating the shadow economy (SE) using the method of demand for currency in Palestine for the period 2008–2018 by studying the relationship between a group of variables that affect the ratio of money traded outside the banking system to the money supply in the broad sense.

The study has adopted analytical and descriptive research methods to estimate SE in Palestinian territories. The data has been obtained from the inflation reports issued by the Palestinian Monetary Authority for ten years, from 2008 to 2018. A standard model was constructed using EViews version 8 for statistical data processing after converting the annual data to quarterly data.

The authors demonstrated that the size of the SE in Palestinian territories has varied over time, and the annual average of its size during the study period reached about $1764.893 (in millions). This amount constitutes about 15.5% of the gross domestic product. The study provides recommendations for reducing the size of the SE in Palestinian territories.

The current study shows that shadow economics could significantly matter for economic policy design by policymakers.

This study deals directly with Tanzi’s “estimation of shadow economy in Palestinian territories” concept and its impact on economic policies.

This paper aims to present a critical appraisal of Ghassan Kanafani’s short story “The Child Goes to the Camp” using the Appraisal Theory proposed by Martin and Rose (2007) in an attempt to investigate the predicament of the Palestinians who were forced to flee their country and live in refugee camps as well as the various effects refugee life had on them.

Using the Appraisal Theory, and with a special focus on the categories of Attitude and Graduation, the paper aims to shed light on the plight of refugees through revealing the narrator’s suffering in a refugee camp where the most important virtue becomes remaining alive.

Analysing the story using the Appraisal Theory reveals the impact refugee life has left on the narrator and his family. This story serves as a warning for the world of the suffering refugees have to endure when they are forced to flee their war-torn countries.

Although Kanafani’ resistance literature has been studied extensively, his short stories have not received much scholarly attention. In addition, his works have not been subject to linguistic analysis. This study presents an appraisal analysis of Kanafani’s “The Child Goes to the Camp” in an attempt to investigate how the author’s linguistic choices are key to highlighting the suffering of the Palestinians, especially children, in refugee camps.

The purpose of this paper is to study the correlational and effect relationship between Halal standards and the performance of Halal-certified Palestinian Food Companies.

Quantitative method was used, using a questionnaire survey of 40 Halal-certified Palestinian organizations out of a total of 47 certified organizations, the analysis was done using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and the literature review was conducted using a well-known systematic literature review methodology.

Halal implementation and certification had a positive impact on performance (operational, financial and marketing). The depth/intensity of implementation fully mediates operational performance and partially mediates marketing and financial performance.

As the sample size is small, it is recommended to conduct the study using a larger sample size, once the number of Palestinian Halal-certified organizations increases. A longitudinal or panel study is recommended to capture data that are more accurate and avoid objectivity and bias issues using a cross-sectional research design method. Finally, the study recommends to conduct additional research in the field of Halal awareness for customers to gage their intention and welling to buy Halal products within the Middle East region.

The importance of this study exists in the lack of previous Halal-related studies in the Palestinian context and the previously described gap in the literature. Nevertheless, the quality management drivers and impact are limited in the Palestinian context compared with other contexts; the results of the previously published studies revealed mixed results such as the drivers of quality management are based on the type of business. Finally, this research gives small insights and directions toward conducting additional studies concerning customer awareness about Halal products.

This paper aims to identify the impact of Clans and parties on mobilizing and guiding voters in the municipal elections in Palestine, from the point of view of Municipal Council members, especially the municipal elections in Hebron governorate for 2005 and 2017. The Palestinian society in Hebron governorate is characterized by the penetration of parties and clans, and this governorate is one of the most clan-based Palestinian provinces. It also relies on clans to run its social and political system as well as managing and shaping the guiding of its citizens.

The quantitative research method was used in this study, and the study population is consisted of members of the municipal councils in Hebron governorate, especially the councils classified (A, B).Whereas, the municipalities classified under category (A) are the ones in the center of the governorate, and the municipalities classified under category (B) are the most in the population. The study depended on a purposive sample of (200) Municipal Council members, including 100 municipal councilors in 2005 and 100 municipal councilors in 2017. The survey was conducted in the academic year (2018–2019). The method Four–Jurors (Reviewers) was used in collecting data.

The results of the study showed that clans and political parties are among the most prominent means of mobilizing and guiding voters in Palestine. The field study indicated thact clans and parties had a high impact on the mobilization and guiding of voters in the municipal elections in Hebron governorate in 2005 and 2017. This is due to the unity of the clan, its association with political parties and the overlapping between the clan and the party. Parties have also penetrated the Palestinian society besides its support to people who are loyal even it did not choose them in the elections. Moreover, many members of the electoral blocs are attributing themselves to the parties to gain their support in elections. Although Hamas did not participate in the 2017 elections, it had an impact on the electoral process by guiding its members not to elect Fatah blocs in the elections, or to support those who are close to this movement.

This study can be regarded as an introduction to identify the impact of clans and parties on mobilizing and guiding voters in the municipal elections in Palestine. Comparing that effect between the 2005 and 2017 elections, to find out how the strength of clans and parties differs in guiding their voters depending on the time period, as well as the ability of clans and parties to make political change by its influence on the political participation of its citizens.

This study aims to adopt the Altman model in order to predict the performance of industrial companies listed on the Palestinian Stock Exchange during the period of time between 2013 and 2017.

The study sample consisted of 12 industrial companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange, and their financial disclosure period extended for 5 years. Multiple linear regression model was used in the analysis to determine the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable where the independent variables were (X₁, X₂, X₃). This study is based on one basic assumption, which is that the Altman's model cannot predict the performance of the Palestinian industrial sector.

The results of the analysis proved the negation of the zero main hypothesis. This means that Altman's model can predict the performance of the Palestinian industrial sector at the level of statistical significance (a = 0.05), as well as the existence of a statistically significant relationship between each of the independent variables (X₂, X₄, X₅) and the dependent variable (Log (Z-score)). Hence, the relationship of X₁ and X₃ with the dependent variable was not statistically significant.

This paper highlights different challenges that face the adaption of Atman's model and performance prediction in the Palestinian industrial sector. The findings of the analysis have the potential to help future researchers in examining and dealing with new challenges.

This paper presents a vital review of adopting Altman's model in the Palestinian industrial sector. A number of recommendations have been made, the most important of which is that most of the companies are located in the red zone. The Altman's model must be adapted in order to fit the Palestinian environment according to the results of statistical analysis and according to a proposed model, which is Log (Z) = −0.653 + 0.72X₂ + 0.18X₄ + 0.585X₅.

This study explores the relationship between leverage and earnings management in the context of Palestinian-listed companies, while also investigating whether audit industry specialization influences this relationship.

The data used in this study are extracted from public financial reports of 39 firms listed on Palestine Stock Exchange (PEX), spread across the service, insurance, industry and investment sectors, for the time period 2011–2022. A model is developed to test 4 hypotheses about the relationships between long-term and short-term debts, and earnings management, and then to examine the influence of audit industry specialization on these relationships.

The results depict a significant, negative relationship between long-term debt and earnings management. Whereas the association between short-term debt and earnings management is insignificant. Audit industry specialization is proven to have no influence on the relationships between the independent and the dependent variables. Results are robust for firms that changed their accounting policies and using different audit industry specialization proxies.

The association between leverage and earnings management is a significant research topic, given that previous research identifies credit ratings and debt covenant violations as key factors which motivate earnings management. This paper fills a substantial research gap by examining the relationship between the two variables in the context of Palestinian-listed firms, while emphasizing the distinction between long-term and short-term debts. It also highlights key relationships that have been neglected in this particular context, which adds to the body of literature. Furthermore, the research's findings provide a solid information base that is of great interest to accounting and auditing experts and that may be seriously evaluated to support and advance the PEX sector.

The aim of this study is to study the relationship between halal certification and small and medium entreprise (SME) performance in a turbulent environment such as the Palestinian environment.

In this study quantitative cross-sectional research design using questionnaires distributed over 51 certified SME’s used, and analysis was performed using partial least squares-structural equational modeling.

The current study revealed that there is a positive relationship between certification and business performance of SME’s in terms of financial and operational performance, and operational performance can mediate the effect between certification and financial performance. It is recommended to conduct further research with larger sample sizes and conduct research using different research designs, such as the longitudinal research design.

Certification of Halal also has a positive relationship with performance, even in a turbulent environment like Palestine. Accordingly, Palestinian food manufacturing firms are called to implement food safety standards like the Halal certificate to gain beside the good gained image the good financial performance.

This study was conducted in one of the most turbulent environments, as well as in developing countries, enriching the literature with results from emerging/turbulence and developing countries.