ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the difficulties involved in establishing control in an environment where the actors are already well acquainted with each other: the opponents to the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The challenge confronting Israelis and Palestinians in the course of confidence building lies precisely in the intricacy of relationships and in the complexity of the conditions for success. The knowledge of the self and of others, must override prejudice-based xenophobia and intolerant communitarian solidarity. The political and security context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict provides an example. The asymmetry between the two peoples in political organization, in sociopolitical and economic relations, and the degree of civic tradition experienced within each of the communities make it impossible to distinguish a common denominator for “extremism.” Both Israeli and Palestinian extremists have pursued exclusionist ideologies which deny the right of national self-determination within the territory stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan river.
