Keeping Our (Social) Distance?

Summary

Publication Year: 2021

Authors:

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Relationships between the Various Groups in Jerusalem

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Jerusalem hard, deeply affecting the Haredi and Palestinian sectors of the city, strengthening and weakening stereotypes about particular groups and leading to a temporary change in the pattern of relationships between the sectors and Israeli government institutions. This document examines the influence of the pandemic on the fabric of intergroup relations in Jerusalem, while highlighting the stories of the two “minority” (although taken together they comprise a majority) Jerusalem communities – the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem and the Jewish Haredi community [in West Jerusalem].

This document tells the story of how these two communities coped with the pandemic (with a focus on the first wave, from March to May 2020), and specifically explores the encounter between them and the authorities which managed the crisis; the media discourse among the general Israeli public regarding these sectors; and the daily routines which were unique to each of these communities during the pandemic.

Download PDF