Statistics and Social Research in the Occupied Territories: The Colonial Effect and the Fragmentation of Palestinian Society

Volume 2|Issue 7| Winter 2014 |Theme of the Issue

Abstract

This study traces the problematic relationship between statistics and social research in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and explores how Palestinian social researchers have dealt with statistical data originating from colonial apparatus. Yahya addresses the general, uncritical acceptance of the Palestinian Central Statistical Agency’s data, and the lack of a critique upon which this apparatus was founded. Out of all surveys conducted by both the Israeli Civil Administration and the Palestinian Central Authority, Yahya focuses on a key statistical survey conducted by the Norwegian FAFO Foundation during the transitional phase. Yahya maintains that this survey represents a perfect example of how statistics fragments and divides Palestinian society as a unit of study and analysis, edifying the Israeli geographic and legal fragmentation of it. Furthermore, the author discusses the complex nature of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, noting that these territories are under the control of two overlapping authorities that practice population management, supervision, and control in a unique manner. The study of statistics in enshrining these practices represents an essential contribution to understanding the impact of this complexity.

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Researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

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