ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
Peacebuilding in
Israeli-Palestinian Relations
“A must-read for all students, scholars, and activists working for peace among Israelis and Palestinians. While much scholarship focuses on ‘insurmountable’ obstacles to peace and many Israelis and Palestinians are disillusioned with and distrustful of one another, Saliba Sarsar provides a much-needed and inspiring scholarly examination of Israeli and Palestinian individuals, partnerships, and community peacebuilding entities that have transformed constraints into opportunities and become models for building a culture of peace.”
—Yael Aronoff, Director, the Serling Institute for Jewish Studies
and Modern Israel Serling Chair in Israel Studies;
Associate Professor of International Relations, Michigan State University
“Saliba Sarsar has written an outstanding book on the necessity of peace in Israeli-Palestinian relations. He pays considerable attention to exploring peacebuilding at three levels— individual, pair, and group—in order to show that peace is everyone’s responsibility. As he argues, Israelis and Palestinians cannot be hostages to their past; their present and future depend on their joint work. It is the people who must live the peace … together!”
—Sami Adwan, Professor of Education
and Editor of Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine
“Saliba Sarsar’s book is a passionate plea for paradigmatic attitudinal transformation, leading Israelis and Palestinians away from violence and toward a habit of peace. The book focuses empirically and theoretically on peacebuilding as a philosophy, strategy, and political program that could improve the conditions of all persons and communities involved in the seemingly intractable Middle Eastern conflict. Given the violent status quo of the region, this book is as realistic as it is humane, as necessary as it is promising.”
—Ilan Peleg, Former President, Association for Israel Studies
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Saliba Sarsar
Peacebuilding in
Israeli-Palestinian Relations
PETER LANG
New York • Bern • Berlin
Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sarsar, Saliba G., author.
Title: Peacebuilding in Israeli-Palestinian relations / Saliba Sarsar.
Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2020.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019022444 | ISBN 978-1-4331-7173-4 (hardback: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4331-7170-3 (ebook pdf)
ISBN 978-1-4331-7171-0 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-4331-7172-7 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Arab-Israeli conflict—1993– —Peace. | Arab-Israeli
conflict—Peace. | Jewish-Arab relations. | Peace-building--Israel. |
Peace-building—Palestine.
Classification: LCC DS119.76 .S2414 | DDC 956.05—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019022444
DOI 10.3726/b16376
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.
© 2020 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
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All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
About the Author
Saliba Sarsar is Professor of Political Science at Monmouth University. He earned his Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University. His honors include the Global Visionary Award and Stafford Presidential Award of Excellence from Monmouth University.
About the Book
Focusing on peacebuilding, this book emphasizes how “grassroots” peacebuilding efforts contribute to closing the gap between the Israeli and Palestinian national communities that have been in conflict for decades. The analysis is undertaken at the individual, pair, and entity levels. The book explores how those involved at each level view the relationship with the other and act to bring about coexistence, a shared society, or peace in a sustained way amid major challenges and an uncertain future. A strong argument is to cultivate and embrace “the habits of peace,” mainly wider perspective, long-term view, compassion, dialogue, forgiveness, nonviolence, and reconciliation. An open letter to Palestinians and Israelis concludes the book, urging them to reconsider their ways and imagine a better tomorrow for themselves and future generations.
This eBook can be cited
This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.
CONTENTS
Dedication and Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Arab-Jewish and Israeli-Palestinian Interactions: A Historical Background
Chapter 2. Navigating Arab-Jewish, Israeli-Palestinian Relations
Chapter 3. Profiles in Peacebuilding Courage
Chapter 4. Uncommon Pairs: The Making of Unique Peacebuilding Leaders
Chapter 5. Metamorphosis of Peacebuilding Entities
Chapter 6. Peacebuilding and Beyond: Challenges and Suggestions for Improvement
Chapter 7. Habits of Peace