Role of the Mediator - With Special Reference to Blood Disputes (From Israel Studies in Criminology, V 7, P 98-131, 1984, S Gloria Shoham, ed. - See NCJ-104759)

• NCJ Number: 104765
• Author(s): J Ginat
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Sheridan House Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Mediators play important roles in Bedouin and rural Arab society in Israel, especially in disputes involving killings or injuries, as shown through a comparison of the position and function of the mediator in these societies and in four other Muslin cultures.

Abstract

Following a premediated killing, members of the victim's group may either take revenge by killing a member of the murderer's group or agree to solve the dispute through a peace agreement (sulha) and to accept blood money (diyya). The mediator's task is to propose a formula that will lead to the end of the dispute. Mediators exercise their power and authority through the special relationship they have with their own community and from their interaction with the police and government offices. Four somewhat differing types of mediators are the Saints among the Sanusi in Cyrenaica, the Saints of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, the Saints among the Swat Pathans, and the Leopard-skin Chief of the Nuer. Kinship is a prerequisite for the mediator in some of these societies, but not among the Bedouin. Unlike some of the other mediators, Bedouin mediators are society members but are outside the groups in which they live and practice their mediation. In some societies only one mediator is used, but more than one mediator or even a committee is used in Bedouin and rural Arab society. Additional comparisons, case examples of the use of mediators, and 57 reference notes.