ARAB-JEWISH COOPERATIVE COEXISTENCE IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE BRIDGING DIFFERENT TRUTHS: Creating Dialogue for Reconciliation and Healing BUILDING PEACE BETWEEN PEOPLE: THE COMPASSIONATE LISTENING PROJECT: CONVERSATIONS FOR PEACE: SHIFT HAPPENS: TOWARD A TYPOLOGY OF DIALOGUE AND DELIBERATION
By Avi Zer-Aviv
E-mail: AviZer@yahoo.com
Thesis for Bachelor of Independent Studies Degree
Department of Independent Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, June 2005, 64 pages
In the author's words, this manuscript "a historical, personal, cultural, and creative journey on Arab-Jewish Relations in Ottoman Palestine over the last 400 years, with a focus on renewing the tradition of cooperative coexistence through analysis and grassroots peace building. There is much original research here, including three case studies and dozens of interviews with Israeli and Palestinian elders."
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The current conflict between Arabs and Jews in Israel/Palestine has ruptured relations between the two peoples, and essentially divided them along geographic, economic, cultural, political, and sociological lines. Yet up until about a hundred years ago, these two peoples enjoyed a rich and deep shared history of coexistence, and lived together as neighbours in relative peace for centuries.
This thesis is an attempt to uncover those memories, and use them to rekindle the tradition of cooperative coexistence between Jews and Arabs in that region. It comes from listening to the stories of my mother’s parents, both born in British Mandate Palestine, and from my own unique identity as a Canadian-Israeli-Palestinian-Algerian-Hungarian-Polish Jew and pagan. It comes from my own conflict of understanding the creation of the State of Israel as a rescue spot for Holocaust survivors like my father’s mother, and my discontent with religious nationalism and its racist dimensions. It is above all an affirmation that peace is an ongoing relational process worth cultivating, and will never be achieved so long as Jews and Arabs stay separate, segregated, and ghettoized within their respective communities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
Chapter One: Personal Reflection & The Politics of Memory
Memory
Childhood
Arabs & Jews
Terminology
Chapter Two: Awakening Memory: The Historical Seeds of Arab-Jewish Cooperative Coexistence
Chapter Three: A Critical Analysis: Arab-Jewish Cooperative Coexistence In Israel/Palestine Today
The Work of Mohammed Abu-Nimer
Understanding The Political & Social Contexts
Major Areas of Importance In Assessing & Analyzing Arab-Jewish Cooperative Coexistence Programs In Israel/Palestine (Abu-Nimer)
Chapter Four: Rekindling The Fires: Three Case Studies
(1) Hand In Hand: The Center For Bilingual Education In Israel
(2) Ta’ayush: Arab-Jewish Partnership
(3) Mosaic Communities
Afterword
Bibliography
By Yuichi Ohta
E-mail: euphoria@m-net.ne.jp
Thesis for Baccalaureate Degree in Peace Studies
The International Christian University, College of Liberal Arts, Division of International Studies
Tokyo, Japan; March, 2003; 106 pages
For this thesis, author Yuichi Ohta was honored with the Makoto Saito Academic Award for Peace Studies. News about the presentation ceremony is on the Web at http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/prc/news/E/030321.html .
The complete manuscript is on the Web at http://www.m-net.ne.jp/~euphoria/ .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Background
Problem Statement
Location of Self
Literature Review
Hypothesis and imitations
Methodology
Sampling
Results
Analysis
Suggestions for Future Research
Conclusion
Bibliography
Works Cited
Works Consulted
Works Used for the Sampling Section
Abstract
Thesis for Bachelor of Arts Degree
Department of International Relations, Brown University, April 2000, 169 pages
As the violence and tension continue to escalate between Israelis and Palestinians, new questions emerge about the potential for success of a political peace process. A major criticism of the political process has been its failure to adequately address the material and psychological root causes of the conflict that continue to fuel fear, resentment, hostility and violence for many Palestinians and Israelis.
While the governments struggle at the official level, growing numbers of citizens have been working behind the scenes to improve relations on the ground and build the basis for a lasting peace. Including women and men from the highest levels of policy-makers to the grassroots, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are addressing those conditions that the political leaders have been unable, or unwilling, to tackle.
This thesis explores the work of women and men in these NGOs, their basis in principle and theory, practical activities, and especially the difficult challenges they face.
A question is raised: Can grassroots social and psychological changes - changes in the nature of relationships - make a significant impact on political developments in the short or long term? Or is political progress a prerequisite for social change? Or must both happen together?
Discussed are the different motives of various NGOs - whether they are promoting the interests of one side or the other, citizens on the ground, foreign governments or elites, donors, or the NGO participants themselves. Explored is the question of whether NGOs are effective and appropriate means of building relations that satisfy and protect the basic interests of both sides and most of society for the long-term good of all.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Struggle for Collective Dignity and Identity
Chapter 2: The Role of NGOs
Chapter 3: The Humanization Approach
Chapter 4: The Needs Approach
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix 1: List and Description of NGOs Included in this Study
Appendix 2: Timeline of Major Events
Appendix 3: Major Documents
A. The Balfour Declaration
B. The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
C. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242
D. U.N. Security Council Resolution 338
E. The Palestinian National Charter
F. State of Palestine Declaration of Independence
G. Israel-PLO Recognition
H. Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (The Oslo Accords)
Appendix 4: Maps
A. Map of Ottoman Palestine - Territorial Divisions
B. Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
By Marie Pace
E-mail: MPace@syr.edu
Thesis for Doctor of Philosophy in Social Science degree
Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflict (PARC)
Maxwel School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Graduate School of Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, May 2005, 275 pages
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This dissertation is a qualitative study investigating how a North American based citizen diplomacy effort—the Compassionate Listening Project—is working to promote peace and reconciliation between Arabs and Jews in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. This study is placed in the context of examining citizens’ emerging role as peacebuilders in divided societies. Using participant observations and in-depth interviews, this study looks at how citizens involved with this project construct and reconstruct the meaning of conflict, peace and peacebuilding through their words, behaviors and interactions. This approach allows for an exploration of the full dynamics of the project, taking into account social, political and historical dimensions. Examining the project from multiple standpoints, this research further reveals the resonance, convergencies, dissonance and disjunctures in individual and organizational beliefs and goals with regards to peacebuilding strategies and goals. These findings further illuminate how ordinary citizens grapple with the complex matters that arise in ethnic and identity-based conflict. In particular, they reveal the ways that citizens aim at pursuing social justice agendas (which often aggravate social tensions) and agendas of reconciliation (which seek to heal those same tensions) at the same time. Illuminated through this project’s experiences are valuable clues about how citizens are attempting to negotiate what John Paul Lederach has described as the tension between revolutionary and resolutionary approaches to peacebuilding. This work contributes to the literature of peacebuilding and Palestinian-Israeli peace and conflict resolution. In particular, it contributes to the neglected area of Americans involvement in citizen based peace processes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
One: Introduction
A Hybrid Strategy
A Different Agenda
Overview of the Study
Significance
Two: Theories and Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Social Change
The Conceptual Terrain of Citizen Peacemaking
From the Actual World of Citizen Peacemaking
Theories and Practices of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding
Culture and the Politics of Meaning
The Role of Religion in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
On Listening
At the Crossroads between Interior and Exterior Worlds
Three: Methods and Procedures
Why Qualitative Methods?
Why The Compassionate Listening Project?
Preliminary Research
Research Design
Informed Consent
Collecting the Data
On Subjectivity and Participant Observations
Personal Identity and the Research Process
Culture and Context
The Final Analysis
Four: Negotiating Paradox
Genesis of the Project
The Early Roots
Citizen Diplomacy
Compassionate Listening
The Third Side
Conclusion
Five: Stories from the Third Side
THE JEWISH DELEGATES
Building Bridges and Amending Injustices
Enemy Encounters
THE ARAB DELEGATES
THE OTHERS
Conclusion
Six: Diplomatic Agendas
THE ITINERARY
The Israeli Peace Movement
Meetings with Israel’s Left
Voices from Israel’s Right
Listening Among Palestinians
Listening to the First Track
Mixed Agendas
Conclusion
Seven: Conclusion
Embracing the Question: So What?
Replication, Growth and Expansion
Limitations and Avenues for Further Research
Trusting the Dark
Bibliography
by Allison Helise Rubalcava
E-mail: starefive@cox.net
Thesis for Master of Arts Degree in History, California State University, Fullerton, 2001, 256 pages
Download the complete, highly illustrated manuscript: (PDF file - 5.6 MB) (Word document - 6.6 MB)
This study examines the interplay of memory, myth, and history in the construction of collective memory, collective identity, and historical narrative.
The result of this interplay is conflicting historical narratives.
In spite of conflicting narratives, a number of contemporary Palestinian-Jewish organizations in the United States use dialogue as the foundation of their cooperative efforts to demonstrate that peaceful coexistence is possible between Palestinians and Jews.
In the process a new collective identity is formed based on historical and biblical commonalities rooted in religion and culture.
This project's use of oral history technique is two-fold.
First, oral history provides the narrative that comprises the bulk of this study and is used to broaden understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict and issues of collective identity formation.
Second, oral history (or dialogue) is the vehicle used by the peace groups in their meetings and community outreach projects.
The two groups included in this study are representative of a larger grass roots movement of conflict resolution founded in dialogue.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
By Nike Carstarphen
E-mail: NikeC@ConflictTransformation.org
Web: Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT) at http://www.conflicttransformation.org
Doctoral thesis
George Mason University, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Fairfax, VA, 2003; 380 pages
Download the complete, highly illustrated manuscript (PDF file -- 14.4 MB) upon e-mail request.
This thesis and the paper described below are available as e-mail attachments upon request by e-mail.
At the February, 2003 Malta International Conference on Intercultural Communication & Diplomacy, Nike presented Making the "Other" Human: The Role of Personal Stories to Bridge Deep Differences, based on her thesis.
To explore intergroup relationship building and its role in conflict resolution, Nike interviewed diplomats, academics and practitioners of different conflict resolution efforts around the globe.
She also interviewed participants of dialogue groups in the United States, including: Jewish-Palestinian dialogues, race/ethnic dialogues, and pro-life/pro-choice dialogues around the abortion issue.
The results suggest the first step in relationship building -- in advance of conflict explanation, analysis, and resolution -- is to "make the 'other' human" and that sharing personal stories -- in the spirit of genuine dialogue -- is one of the most successful starting points in this process.
Stories help adversaries break through their stereotypes, fears and animosities toward the other by helping them begin to understand and recognize the other's needs, values and core concerns.
Stories help create bridges across deep differences and lay the foundation for conflict resolution.
Nike Carstarphen's shorter 23-page paper (96 KB PDF) can be downloade by clicking on the title:
Making the Other Human: The Role of Personal Stories to Bridge Deep Differences.
Carstarphen, N., In Hannah Slavik (Ed.), International Communication and Diplomacy.
DiploFoundation, Malta and Geneva, 2004, pp. 177-196.
The full thesis can be requested as a PDF document from Nike (NikeC@ConflictTransformation.org) at the office of her Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT), on the Web at http://www.conflicttransformation.org/ , or from us, Libby and Len Traubman (LTraubman.igc.org).
TABLE OF CONTENTS of Making the "Other" Human: The Role of Personal Stories to Bridge Deep Differences
Introduction
Tripartite Model of Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Study I: How Do We Make "The Other" Human?
Research Methods
Research Results
Why are Personal Stories Powerful?
Study 2: Experimental Design -- Personal Stories versus Rational Explanations
Methods
The Conflict Scenario
Dependent Variables
General Attitudes About the Opponent's Personality/Behavior
Feelings Toward the Opponent
Understanding/Empathizing with Opponent
Assumptions About the Opponents' Role in the Conflict
Attitudes About Our Role in the Conflict
Expected Negotiations Climate
Expected Negotiation Outcomes
Results
Story
Explanation
Story-first
Explanation-first
Conclusion
Implications for Diplomacy
Storytelling as Part of Prenegotiation Dialogues and Negotiations
Spreading New Stories to the Masses
Facilitated Diplomacy
By Adi Greif
E-mail: AGreif@stanford.edu
Bachelor of Arts Honors thesis
Stanford University, Department of Political Science
Stanford, CA, 2006; 74 pages
Download the complete manuscript: (PDF file) (Word document)
ABSTRACT
Dialogue groups that bring together civilians with many perspectives on a conflict and hold face-to-face discussions differ. Facilitators of dialogue groups often claim that their type of dialogue is especially conducive to long-term peace and stability and results in a wider-ranging set of beneficial effects. To evaluate such claims, this paper delineates dialogue groups and their goals by type (and offers a case study to illustrate its structure): 1) dialogue that transforms human relationships in order to build interpersonal trust and reduce prejudice (E.g. Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict); 2) dialogue that transforms understanding of political interest through consideration of the political interest of others in order to build a common political vision for the future (E.g. Community Dialogue based on the conflict in Northern Ireland); and 3) dialogue that transforms political decision-making from interest-oriented to public-spirited-oriented dialogue in order to find mutually agreeable solutions (E.g. Deliberative Polling Weekends based on problems within mainly developed, peaceful Western countries like America). There is no evidence that one type is superior in transformational potential; the paper concludes by suggesting that the effectiveness of different types of dialogue is contingent upon the problem being addressed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS of Toward A Typology of Dialogue and Deliberation
Introduction
Section 1: Modes of Interaction
I. Transforming Human Relationships
II. Transforming Political Interest
III. Beyond Interests: Public spiritedness
IV. Conclusion of Section 1
Section 2: Case Study Utilization of Modes of Interaction
I. Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue
II. Community Dialogue
III. Deliberative Polling Weekends
IV. Conclusion of Section 2
Section 3: Structure to Maximize Dialogue Strategy
I. History of the Cases
II. Organizational Structure: Size, Time
III. Aspects of Discussion: Pace and Focus
IV. Location
V. Participants: Selection, Balance
VI. Type of Facilitator: Paid, Personally Involved
VII. Conclusion of Section 3
Section 4: Context and the Need for Future Research
I. Theory of Change
II. Context
Conclusion