The Divergence of Judaism and Islam: Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

15. Interreligious Dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Empirical View

15 Interreligious Dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict An Empirical View Ben Mollov Are there possibilities for religiously based intercultural dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians as a means to effect perception moderation and conflict resolution? Citing both qualitative and quantitative survey data of Israelis and Palestinians, along with Jews and Arabs within the state of Israel, who have been involved in dialogue, our study suggests that, contrary to accepted assumptions, religion can, in fact, help to moderate mutual perceptions and serve to potentially facilitate constructive mutual accommodations.1 Integrating macro-level political science approaches including federalist thinking as articulated by Daniel J. Elazar, along with micro-level social psychological analysis, I argue that religiously based intercultural dialogue can help modify mutual Israeli-Palestinian perceptions as the sides discover similarities between Islam and Judaism that can serve as a basis for constructive intergroup encounters and relationship building. Further, it has the potential to foster understanding on the macro level aimed at clarifying deeper narratives that are fundamentally based on religious worldviews but that at the same time offer a perspective and possibility of “transcendent” contact as some narrative reformulation takes place on both sides along with the possibility of developing elements of a constructive vision for the “Holy Land.” Interreligious Dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Empirical View · 289 This chapter explores the relevance of religiously based conflict resolution efforts in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the context of the developing area of religion and conflict management. The work will draw primarily upon research and field efforts undertaken between 1994 and September 2000. The goal will be to analyze micro processes and extrapolate these dynamics toward macro processes including federal approaches to dialogue in the Middle East. Religion and Conflict Management The post–cold war world has seen a proliferation of ethnic conflicts as documented in the literature and even the possible contours of intercivilization conflict, as advanced by Samuel P. Huntington, which is deeply related to the assertion of cultural identity, an assertion connected, particularly in the Middle East, to religious foundations.2 Indeed, in a broader way Robert J. Fisher has identified the centrality of cultural identity “as reflecting the unique heritage and way of life of the people that is contrasted with other cultures.”3 Clifford Geertz has emphasized the importance of religion to society, and Huntington points to the critical link between culture, religion, and civilization.4 In underscoring the centrality of religion to culture in the Middle East, it is important to recall that religious traditions explicitly or implicitly underlie the collective ways of life and values of both Arabs and Jews, even for many who may not follow strict religious observance in their personal lives. Indeed, it is my assumption that religious culture is the direct or at least implicit foundation of national identities among Arabs and Jews in the Middle East in general and the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular. Given the centrality of religion to identity and conflict in the Middle East, it is vital to connect the role of religion in peacemaking in a variety of ethno-national conflict venues, which is achieving scholarly recognition only fairly recently.5 Indeed, work in this area has pointed to the potential of religion to serve as an exacerbating as well as a moderating influence on the attitudes of parties involved in intense interethnic conflict .6 The key question to be addressed here is how religion can serve as a factor contributing to the moderation of conflict as opposed to its escalation. 290 · Ben Mollov Empirical Results and Processes The hypothesis of research conducted by our teams of researchers is that culture, which is substantially rooted in religion, can be a basis for improving perceptions between Israelis and Palestinians in the context of efforts to moderate the conflict.7 Several projects were conducted and/or evaluated by these teams, with summaries of processes and results now offered. In 1994, a group of Palestinian students from the Hebron area and I coinitiated a series of dialogues with Israeli students from Bar-Ilan University . These meetings continued until the start of acute Israeli-Palestinian violence in the fall of 2000 and focused on commonalities between Islam and Judaism. They eventually led to spin-off cooperative efforts, facilitated by the leading partners of the dialogue themselves. Participants reported on a warm atmosphere in these face-to-face meetings and attributed that achievement...