The Social Responsibility of the Palestinian National Security Agency and its Impact on the traditional Stereotyping of the Palestinian Authority

The study aimed at identifying the application of social responsibility by the Palestinian National Security Forces and the effects on the Palestinian Authority image within the Palestinian society. The main question of the study is “what effect does the social responsibility represented by the Palestinian security forces’ activities leave on the image of the Palestinian Authority within the society? Meanwhile, the researcher assumed that the National Security Forces’ social activities and events have contributed in enhancing the image of the Palestinian Authority in the eyes of the Palestinian citizen. The study population consisted of all the citizens that have received materialistic and moral support from the National Security Forces between the years of 2012 and 2015, of which 28,000 people are from multiple northern governorates. The researcher had chosen a random sample of 430 beneficiaries of the National Security Forces’ social programs in the northern governorates of the West Bank, using questionnaires as a tool to conduct the study as well as following a descriptive approach. The study was divided into five chapters. Chapter one discussed the research problem, assumptions, its importance, it goals and previous studies. Chapter two the literature review, explored the main concepts related to the study such as “social responsibility and its concept, its conditions and elements” and “the concept of leaving an image behind”. In chapter three the researcher dealt with the social responsibility from the comprehensive and national security’s perspective and the most highlighted social activities the Palestinian National Security Forces implements. Meanwhile, in chapter four the researcher examined the methodology, the population and the sample of the study, testing the validity of the tool and its stability, in addition to showcasing the leading statistical packages used in the study. In the last chapter, the researcher set out to presenting the results and the recommendations based on the conducted study. The following are the results of the study: • The Palestinian Authority social responsibility activities implemented by the National Security Forces through the past years has positively impacted the public perception of the developmental role the National Security Forces play. • The safety and the wellbeing of the Palestinian society is considered the main concern of the Palestinian security forces. Therefore the National Security Forces provide all what is necessary to achieve it, all while providing the circumstances to continue implementing the security strategy that supports the concept of the ‘Comprehensive’ Sustainable Humanitarian Development in Palestine. • The officers and the members of the Palestinian National Security Forces serve their country out of two factors: the first one is the commitment of the members’ in following the guidelines and the bylaws of the force that is based on emphasizing the security concepts within the society. The second stems from within each member of the force and their level of performance serving their country, practically, technically and logistically. • Social responsibility is considered one of the most important priorities for the national security forces in most countries of the civilized world and is playing leading roles in serving the people. Based on this, the Palestinian National Security Force is considered one of the leading forces in serving the Palestinian community. The researcher discussed the aforementioned results and based on that made a number of recommendations: 1- Deepening the relation between the security forces and the civil society including its associations, organizations and connections to form an integrative social contract of joint responsibility towards the society in developing the attitude and the tools of security. 2- Increasing the efforts made by the forces in the social field to include remote communities, specifically the small rural areas and area “C”. 3- The importance of encouraging the other forces to follow the steps of the National Security in including the social aspect in their plans and programs. 4- Establishing cooperation between the Palestinian National Security Force and the security forces of advanced countries to learn from their best practices and adapt to the Palestinian society, especially when it comes to distributing aids or in the case of natural catastrophes and crises. 5- Emphasizing the necessity of enforcing the representation of the National Security Force within the Palestinian society, not only in matters of social responsibility but also out of a civilized concept of security and the human being is the core of the security process. 6- Strengthening the dialogue with all civil society organizations, non-governmental and grassroots organizations to find a joint mechanism of offering all sorts of services to the Palestinian citizen regardless of the citizen’s place of residence