The Sulha System in Palestine: Between Justice and Social Order

The Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), as an integral part of the Arab and Islamic worlds, share many of the same traditions of dispute resolution as other countries in the region, important aspects of which can be traced back to the pre-Islamic era. Nevertheless, the singular history of Palestine and the Palestinians has necessarily made its mark on these common traditions. This contribution is therefore an opportunity to discuss some peculiarities of the Palestinian Sulha system that has emerged over the last decades, in the wake of drastic and unsettling transformations in the Palestinian reality. Ultimately, one cannot discuss this issue without an understanding of the effect that the ongoing 38 year-old military occupation has had on the very fabric of the society, on the social, political and economic levels, and the internal politics that ensue.