7 research outputs found

    Kafka at the West Bank checkpoint: de-normalizing the Palestinian encounter before the law

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    The checkpoint has emerged as a quintessential trope within the contemporary Palestinian imagination, to such an extent that “checkpoint narratives” have arguably come to assume a dangerously “normalized” status as everyday, even iconic features of Palestinian existence. Turning to the films Route 181 by Michel Khleifi and Eyal Sivan, and like twenty impossibles by Annemarie Jacir, this article explores how alternative representations (and theorizations) of checkpoint encounter might serve to “de-normalize” the checkpoint in a way that invites us to interrogate the very nature of the checkpoint apparatus in itself, including the nature of the “law” that it represents. Mobilizing the critical paradigms of the “state of exception” and “homo sacer” drawn from the theoretical work of Giorgio Agamben and the literary work of Franz Kafka, the article argues that apprehension of the enduring oddity and abnormality of the checkpoint serves as a vital mode of critical resistance to the policies of “spatio-cide”, “securitization” and colonialism exercised at the hands of the State of Israel through the checkpoint mechanism

    Humoral and T-Cell Response before and after a Fourth BNT162b2 Vaccine Dose in Adults ≥60 Years

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    Both humoral and cellular anamnestic responses are significant for protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. In the current study, the responses in elderly people before and after a fourth vaccine dose of BNT162b2 were compared to those of individuals immunized with three vaccine doses. Although a boost effect was observed, the high response following the third administration questions the necessity of an early fourth boost

    The alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test (ASSIST): development, reliability and feasibility

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    WHO ASSIST Working Group member: Robert Ali for Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services Council, Adelaide, AustraliaAIMS The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was developed for the World Health Organization (WHO) by an international group of substance abuse researchers to detect psychoactive substance use and related problems in primary care patients. This report describes the new instrument as well as a study of its reliability and feasibility. SETTING The study was conducted at participating sites in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, India, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. Sixty per cent of the sample was recruited from alcohol and drug abuse treatment facilities; the remainder was drawn from general medical settings and psychiatric facilities. METHODS The study was concerned primarily with test item reliability, using a simple test–retest procedure to determine whether subjects would respond consistently to the same items when presented in an interview format on two different occasions. Qualitative and quantitative data were also collected to evaluate the feasibility of the screening items and rating format. PARTICIPANTS A total of 236 volunteer participants completed test and retest interviews at nine collaborating sites. Slightly over half of the sample (53.6%) was male. The mean age of the sample was 34 years and they had completed, on average, 10 years of education. RESULTS The average test–retest reliability coefficients (kappas) ranged from a high of 0.90 (consistency of reporting ‘ever’ use of substance) to a low of 0.58 (regretted what was done under influence of substance). The average kappas for substance classes ranged from 0.61 for sedatives to 0.78 for opioids. In general, the reliabilities were in the range of good to excellent, with the following items demonstrating the highest kappas across all drug classes: use in the last 3 months, preoccupied with drug use, concern expressed by others, troubled by problems related to drug use, intravenous drug use. Qualitative data collected at the end of the retest interview suggested that the questions were not difficult to answer and were consistent with patients’ expectations for a health interview. The data were used to guide the selection of a smaller set of items that can serve as the basis for more extensive validation research. CONCLUSION The ASSIST items are reliable and feasible to use as part of an international screening test. Further evaluation of the screening test should be conducted

    Creative Responses to Separation: Israeli and Palestinian Joint Activism in Bil\u27in

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    This article examines creative ways in which Israeli and Palestinian activists engage with each other and the powers seeking to separate them in their nonviolent struggles for a just and lasting peace. Using the geopolitical theory of territoriality, the article briefly examines a number of administrative, physical, and psychological barriers facing joint activism and the strategies activists use to counteract them. Drawing on nonviolent theory and practice, the article analyzes how activists exert power through the creative use of symbols and practices that undermine the legitimacy of occupation policies. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2004-05 and July 2006, the article explores the implications of this activism on conceptions of identity, and strategies for restarting a moribund peace process. The relative \u27success\u27 of sustained joint action in Bil\u27in can provide scholars and policymakers with innovative approaches for addressing some of the outstanding issues needing to be addressed by official negotiators. Although government bodies are more constrained than activists, the imaginative means of engaging with the system- and the reframing of issues through the redeployment of \u27commonplaces\u27-can perhaps provide inspiration, if not leverage, for thinking outside of the box
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