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| Volume XV, Fall 2008, Number 3 |
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EXCERPT
Two Complementary Views of Peacemaking: The Palestinian-Israeli Case
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| Sapir Handelman |
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Dr. Handelman is an associate at Harvard University and a Lentz Fellow in Peace and Conflict Resolution Research at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The Palestinian-Israeli dispute is an archetypical example of an intractable conflict: a protracted, violent, drawn-out struggle in which generation after generation is socially conditioned to continue fighting. The phenomenon perpetuates a destructive evolutionary mechanism: almost every element that benefits the conflict survives, while whatever operates against it becomes extinct. In order to change this progression, a beneficial revolutionary process is required that would bring the peace process to the point of no return, a place where extremists, radicals and “professional” spoilers cannot stop the progression toward resolution of the conflict.
Two critical elements are required for an effective peace process: leadership on both sides and the preparation of the opposing societies. These components are interdependent. Leaders who strive to promote a solution to the conflict need the support of their people; people who are prepared for a reasonable peace process demand substantial progress toward resolution of the conflict and the establishment of a peaceful social order. The question is, how to create such a circular structure.
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