“Second Class Loss”: Political Culture as a Recovery Barrier—The Families of Terrorist Casualties' Struggle for National Honors, Recognition, and Belonging

Abstract

Israeli families of terrorist victims have undertaken initiatives to include their dearest in the national pantheon. The objections opposed the penetration of “second-class loss” into the symbolic closure of heroic national bereavement. The “hierarchy of bereavement” is examined through the lens of political culture organized around the veneration held for the army fallen and their families, which has symbolic as well as rehabilitative outcomes. Families of civilian terror victims claims for similar status and treatment had to frame their loss as national in the eyes of the social policy. The article claimed linkage between collective memory and rehabilitation.

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Division of Research and Planning in the Israeli National Insurance Institute. Heartfelt thanks to Prof. David Wolf, head of the Authority for Research and Development at Ariel University, for a generous stipend. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their important feedback, valuable comments, and suggestions, and to Miss Michal Vanchotzker for the research assistance and data collection. Lastly, many thanks to Prof. Nigel Field, Dr. Itzhak Carmel, Dr. Eithan Orkibi, Dr. Paul King, and Dr. Maggie Jackson for their intellectual insights and encouragement.