|
Daniel Bar-Tal
Psychological obstacles to peace-making in the Middle East and
proposals to overcome them
Analysis of the relations
between the Israeli Jews and the Palestinians, in the context of the Al
Aqsa Intifada, suggests a sad paradox. On the one hand, the majority of
people in both societies are ready for far-reaching compromises in order
to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict peacefully. But, on the other
hand, the majority of people in both societies stereotype their opponents
with extremely negative characteristics and feel a profound mistrust that
prevents any possible negotiation and solution of the conflict.
The paper explains the described paradox on the basis of the theory of
transitional context, focusing on the Israeli Jewish society. The transitional
context consists of observable and well-defined physical, social, political,
economic, military and psychological conditions that are of a temporary
nature and construct the environment in which individuals and collectives
function. These conditions arise as a result of major events and major
information that are perceived and apprehended by society members, and
then they affect their behavior and functioning.
In the case of the Israeli Jewish society, the context consisted of major
events and provided major information that shed light on them, related
to the Camp David summit and the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada in
2000. This context served as a basis for the emergence of fear, delegitimization
of the Palestinians and a self-collective view as a victim, which became
major obstacles that prevented any meaningful negotiation towards the
achievement of a peaceful solution. They in turn led to support for violent
acts against the Palestinians, support of a leader who projects a determination
to deal harshly with the rival, feelings of irreconcilability and support
for unilateral separation from the Palestinians.
The last part of the paper describes in general terms the psychological
state that both societies should strive to reach in the present situation
of violent conflict without negotiations. After almost four years of violent
confrontations, Israelis and Palestinians should try to achieve a state
of peaceful coexistence, which means mutual legitimization, equalization,
differentiation, and personalization, as well as the introduction of hope
and mutual acceptance. In essence, coexistence refers to a state of mind
shared by the members of a society. In order to achieve coexistence, it
is necessary to change the psychological repertoire of the societies involved
in the peace process. The achievement of this change depends first of
all on the intentions, determination, activism and strength of those who
support the peace process, including leaders, political parties, NGOs,
and individual society members. Second, a successful process of establishing
a climate of coexistence in a society depends on the mobilization of societal
institutions to propagate the new messages of the peace process. Mass
media and the educational system play an important role in this mission.
As its final point, the paper suggests that the fundamental prerequisites
for changing the psychological repertoire that inhibits the peace process
are: a. negotiations between the rivals which will allow the development
of mutually acceptable agreement and b. cessation, or at least a significant
reduction, of all types of violence.
|
|
|
On the author:
Daniel Bar-Tal is professor of social psychology at the School of Education
and director of the Walter Lebach Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence
through Education, Tel Aviv University. He also is coeditor of the Palestine
Israel Journal. He served as the President of the International Society
of Political Psychology (1999-2000). His research interest is in political
and social psychology studying psychological foundations of intractable
conflicts and peace making. Recent books: Shared Beliefs in a Society (Sage,
2000); Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict: Representations of Arabs in
Israeli Jewish Society (together with Yona Teichman; Cambridge University
Press, 2005); Patriotism: Homeland love (ed. together with Avner Ben Amos,
Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 2004, in Hebrew).
Address: School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978,
Israel . eMail: daniel@post.tau.ac.il
Website: www.tau.ac.il/education/homepg/bar-tal
|
|