This book explores the challenges of transforming the violent conflict between the State of Israel and the Palestinians into just peace. There are many challenges involved in the bottom-up transformation of the violent structures that sustain the State of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. This book examines these structures as it assesses the actors and strategies that are contributing to the termination of cycles of violence and oppression. Consisting of contributions from both peace practitioners and academics who have conducted research within Israel and the occupied territory, the volume utilises a multidisciplinary perspective to examine promising strategies for conflict transformation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Moreover, it spells out the types of nonviolent strategy that are being used to expose and undermine occupation structures, and surveys the manner in which a variety of key actors are working towards the transformation of the ongoing conflict. As a whole, the volume presents a proposal for the transformation of the conflict between Palestinians and the State of Israel that embraces the constructive potential of conflict, engages with power asymmetry, and pushes for justice and accountability. This book will be of much interest to students of conflict resolution, peace studies, Middle Eastern studies, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and IR in general.

This book is a collection of essential essays on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by eminent social psychologist Herbert C. Kelman. Few experts or practitioners know the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Kelman, and for over forty years he has conducted interactive problem-solving workshops at Harvard University and elsewhere, engaging more than one hundred Israeli, Arab and Palestinian political activists, journalists and intellectuals in constructive dialogue. Spanning the years 1978 to 2017, the essays gathered here are still relevant today, and attest to the author’s broad empathy for Palestinians and Israelis and his passionate pursuit of a resolution of their conflict based on consistent principles that satisfy the essential psychological needs and minimum political interests of both. The selected essays are not only insightful academic papers, but also serve as snapshots-in-time of the ebb and flow of conflict and peace efforts as well as guideposts for future would-be negotiators and facilitators. This volume will be of much interest to students of Middle Eastern politics, peace and conflict studies, and international relations, and will help would-be negotiators and mediators in practice.

This book focuses on the September 2000 confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians, examining the characteristics of a confrontation that developed into a protracted low-intensity conflict. Topics addressed include the strategies adopted by both sides, the reasons for the failure of moderation, and the phenomenon of unilateral disengagement.

Built on the premise that trust is one of the most important factors in intergroup relations, conflict management and resolution at large, this volume explores trust and its mechanisms and operations especially in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Significantly, this volume focuses not only on the nature of trust and distrust in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it also explores how it is possible to build and increase trust on both sides in the conflict, a necessity in order to advance the stalled peace process. As trust is a concept that is interdisciplinary by nature, so are this volume’s contributors: sociologists, philosophers, sociologists, social psychologists, political scientists, as well as experts in the Middle East, Islam, Judaism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict bring together real multidisciplinary perspectives that complement each other and then provide a comprehensive picture about the nature of trust and distrust and its ramification and implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Divided into five thematic parts, the volume begins with by examining the theoretical basis of trust research from multiple perspectives. Then, it presents chapters on trust, distrust, and trust-building in other conflicts around the world. The third part is a unique feature of this volume as it takes a contextual approach: it emphasizes the importance of particular cultural and religious considerations on both sides of the conflict. The thrust of the book is examined in the next section. Part IV discusses and analyses various aspects of trust, and specifically distrust, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Significantly, the chapters of this part take the perspectives of the participants in the conflict: Israeli Jews, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. Finally, the volume concludes by providing an integrative conceptual perspective based on the principles of social and political psychology. An important goal of this volume is to not only explore trust and distrust in an intractable conflict, but also to provide practical multi-disciplinary outlooks and implications to advance trust building in two conflict ridden societies—Israeli and Palestinian, and other societies around the world.

?An incredibly courageous effort by Israeli and Palestinian peace scholars and practitioners to take a critical look at themselves and their activities, to expose and analyze their weaknesses, and to suggest ways to improve their efficacy and impact in the years ahead.??Naomi Chazan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem?Chronicling the valiant work of civil society in both camps in their quest toward reconciliation, this book helps us to fathom the uphill battle that the peace movement in Israel and Palestine has faced, and the hard work done in order to heal the wounds emanating from occupation and violence.??Hanna Siniora, Crossing BordersIn the midst of the continuing violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are many who remain committed to moving forward on the road to peace. The Palestinian and Israeli contributors to this book, recognizing the great potential of civil society and NGOs for the peacebuilding process, focus on realistic opportunities for conflict transformation. Drawing from the experiences of the post-Oslo period?seeking to learn from the mistakes that have been made?the authors concentrate on possibilities for just solutions that will enable both peoples to live in peace, safety, and prosperity. Their work is part of the Searching for Peace Series, a program of the European Centre for Conflict Prevention.Edy Kaufman is senior research associate at the Harry S Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Walid Salem is director of the Jerusalem Office of Panorama, the Palestinian Center for the Dissemination of Democracy and Community Development. Juliette Verhoeven is coordinator of the research unit at the European Centre for Conflict Prevention.Contents: Foreword?N. Chazan. Foreword?H. Siniora. Introduction?the Editors. Reflections. Palestinian-Israeli Peacebuilding: A Historical Perspective?E. Kaufman and W. Salem. Civil Society and NGOs Building Peace in Israel?T. Hermann. Civil Society and NGOs Building Peace in Palestine?M. Hassassian. Israeli-Palestinian Joint Activities: Problematic Endeavor, But Necessary Challenge?M. Dajani and G. Baskin. Israeli-Palestinian Second Track Diplomacy?M. Klein and R. Malki. Nonviolent Action in Israel and Palestine: A Growing Force?M. Abu-Nimer. Two Peoples, One Civil Society?S. Dichter and K. Abu-Asba. Looking Back, Looking Forward: Toward Transforming the Conflict?the Editors. Directory. 100 Organizations in Israel and Palestine.

Collection of papers and keynote presentations that were delivered at a conference called "Pathways to Peace," which was held in March of 2008.

This book applies the dynamic field of transitional justice to conflict resolution in Israel/Palestine. Around the globe, diverse societies have pursued truth-telling, restorative justice and reconciliation to end conflict -- yet the language of transitional justice has been all but absent in Israel/Palestine. This volume squarely addresses how transitional justice could contribute to conflict transformation and accountability, incorporating the questions of collective justice, memory, and human rights. It covers the most important historical and legal issues facing Israel/Palestine with a focus on civil societies in South Africa, Northern Ireland and Latin America. Ultimately, the book proposes an unofficial Israeli-Palestinian Truth and Empathy Commission (IPTEC) to address gross human rights abuses committed by both nations. Transitional Justice for Israel/Palestine will be of interest to researchers, NGOs, and policy makers working in transitional justice and societies with ongoing conflict.

Prefiguring Peace: Israeli-Palestinian Peacebuilding Partnerships, a longitudinal study of more than ten years (1993-2008), focuses on the major peacebuilding initiatives with an educational encounter-based approach in Israel and Palestine. It examines how non-governmental peacebuilding initiatives adapt to radically changing environments, the challenges they face, and why some are able to adapt and survive while others do not. Michelle I. Gawerc explores two aspects of adaptation--the ability to maintain resources and legitimacy with critical constituencies outside the organization, and the ability to continue to function effectively as an organization. Her study shows that when the environment became more tumultuous and hostile, the effectiveness and even survival of these organizations depended to a significant degree on their ability to manage the power asymmetry between the two sides and work as equally as possible. Indeed, it became critical for building and maintaining trust and respect in the partnership; for preserving legitimacy with one's partner; for maintaining staff and active participant commitment; for managing internal conflict; and even for managing resources. Organizations that failed to deal effectively with matters of equality, and the needs and desires of both sides, ended up struggling to maintain commitment or were doused in conflict that could have been tempered if they strived for more equality. Encompassing various fields, this research contributes to the broad fields of peace and conflict resolution, social movements, and organizational studies. It offers critical insight into how organizations adapt to sudden and drastic changes: what is problematic, what is possible, and what allows some groups to survive while others do not. In addition, it has great import for building sustainable coalitions across inequality, asymmetry, and difference.

Examining the “social laboratory” of the Israeli and Palestinian societies to better understand social conflicts and the construction of diverse and conflicting collective narratives, this book gives readers a window into Professor Shifra Sagy’s unique approach to intergroup conflicts and peace education. With a focus on both theory and practice, it describes the model of perceptions of collective narratives that she developed with her colleagues. The contributions here offer insight into the intergroup conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians, Palestinian Muslims and Christians, Jewish ‘National Religious’ and people of ultra-Orthodox faith, and Palestinians living in Israel and those living in the West Bank. Perceptions of collective narratives help crystallize social identity, a sense of community and national coherence, and a culture of conflict. Often this creates obstacles to peace and conflict resolution. This book instead looks at how we can use these constructions to promote reconciliation.

The Middle East conflict, be it between the state of Israel and Arab states or between Jews and Palestinians, is a staple of international news. Utilizing both theoretical approaches and empirical evidence, Hemda Ben-Yehuda and Shmuel Sandler argue that despite the recent upswing in violence, particularly over the Palestinian issue, conflict has gradually been giving way, since the 1970s, to a more orderly regime of conflict management. By integrating ethnonational theoretical literature into their analysis, the authors move beyond the current International Relations debate over the relative merits of realist/neo-realist approaches versus neo-liberal-institutional approaches. Ethnic-state disputes are the primary source for failing to terminate the Arab-Israeli conflict.