ABSTRACT

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.

chapter |12 pages

Editors’ introduction

part I|92 pages

The road to mutual recognition

chapter 1|22 pages

Israelis and Palestinians

Psychological prerequisites for mutual acceptance (1978) 1

chapter 3|14 pages

Talk with Arafat (1982) 1

chapter 4|15 pages

The political psychology of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

How can we overcome the barriers to a negotiated solution? (1987) 1

part II|74 pages

The opening of negotiations and the Oslo process

chapter 6|20 pages

Acknowledging the other’s nationhood

How to create a momentum for the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations (1992) 1

chapter 9|14 pages

Building a sustainable peace

The limits of pragmatism in the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations (1998) 1

chapter 10|19 pages

The interdependence of Israeli and Palestinian national identities

The role of the other in existential conflicts (1999) 1

part III|53 pages

The breakdown of negotiations and efforts to revive them

chapter 11|13 pages

Israeli–Palestinian peace

Inching toward and looking beyond negotiations (2007) 1

chapter 14|13 pages

Constructing a narrative of reconciliation

A personal plea for transformation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1