Statement of the Problem
It is clear at this point that the Middle East conflict continues to
deteriorate, as violence escalates. Common sense efforts to resolve the
situation have not helped, and have made things worse. Seemingly promising
strategies are sabotaged and overwhelmed by destructive forces.
It has been said that there is no military solution, only a political
solution. Political solutions alone cannot account for the deeper, powerful
emotions around security, identity, fear, envy, humiliation, rage, dignity,
trauma, guilt, shame, and the asymmetry of power, under which viable
relationships are not possible.
While common sense strategies are applied endlessly in the face of
evidence that they usually make things worse, uncommon wisdom has not been
applied to this complex situation. A well developed, highly substantiated
body of knowledge does exist in the area of conflict transformation,
including tension reduction, fear reduction, win-win strategies,
reconciliation, education, use of media, economic incentives, and face-saving
ways out the compulsion to retaliate.
The continuation of the violence is preventable and reversible - using a
combination of strategies that use outside-the-box approaches to conflict,
which address the powerful, relentless underlying psychological forces.
We need to tap the wisdom of experts who have extensive knowledge of and
experience with effective, proven methods in dealing with these issues.
Proposal
There are two parts to this proposal - 1) an emergency meeting of experts
to design a strategy to transform the conflict, and 2) a long range series of
meetings and working groups to work out details and to monitor and carry out
the changes necessary to end violence and establish conditions conducive to
improved relationships.
Part 1 - Emergency Retreat of Intuition Tank
We propose an emergency retreat meeting to bring together those experts
who have the most to contribute - knowledge, skills, credibility and personal
qualities needed to shift to an entirely new way of intervening to help end
the violence to address the massive collective trauma of all involved, to
begin a process of healing from so much pain and loss, and to design steps to
rebuild a better future for all peoples in the region, which is necessary for
the healing process.
It will be multidisciplinary, and all aspects will be informed by an
understanding of the most profound psychological dimensions. Strategies and
policies will anticipate and account for potential predictable reactions and
resistances to approaches by various factions and try to account for them.
Below is a suggested list of some of the experts to be invited for Part 1 -
The Emergency Intuition Tank. We will strive for ethnic, religious,
geographical, and gender balance in adding other participants. All those
invited are required to have a transcendent view of the conflict.
Alma Aboluf Hasli Jaslallah, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Akbar Ahmed, Mubarak Awad,
Abdul Azziz Said, Reena Bernard,Richard Wendell Fogg, Adina Friedman, Johann
Galtung, Paula Green, David Hartsough, Herb Kelman, Louis Kriesberg, Diane
Perlman, Marc Ross, Jay Rothman, Betty Sitka, Ervin Staub, Shibley Telhami
Request for Funding
We request funding to conduct a meeting at a retreat or conference
center, for the soonest weekend possible, meeting from Friday through Sunday.
We will come up with creative, psychologically informed suggestions of new ,
substantially different methods to end the violence. We will make our
suggestions available to appropriate parties, including members of the
current administration and media.
During the first retreat we will design continuing processes for
implementing strategies. Future meetings will include several levels of
leadership, and both mono and bicommunal meetings. We will have a complex,
integrated and a full spectrum approach with working groups from
government, religious leadership, education, media, economics, and business
so that each element can enhance and potentiate the success of the whole
process.
We will explore the possibility of developing the first model of a
regional Nonviolent Peace Force, if funding is available. This would be far
less costly than violent force, both economically and sociopolitically.
Part 2: Proposal for a long range plan for Transcending the Legacy of Trauma
and Preparation for Reconciliation towards a Violent Free Future and a
Mutually Beneficial Coexistence
This proposal for a long term reconciliation process originated in a
course on "Forgiveness and Reconciliation" taught by Dr. Paula Green, at the
Conflict Transformation Across Cultures (CONTACT) program at the School for
International Training Summer Institute in Vermont, June 18 22, 2001. An
earlier version this project was done with Karen Zella Brown.
The strategy is designed to promote a paradigm shift by creating a change
in the tone of the Peace Process. Its intention is to establish a new
atmosphere with a positive approach, based on realistic hope.
It is designed as a psychologically based, organic, living process with
complex, integrated systems and structures that will support, promote and
protect developments as they evolve. It will thoughtfully and creatively
address deeper issues associated with trauma, grief, loss, fear, envy,
humiliation, rage, and guilt. The process will take into account the power
imbalances, resistance to and the need for incentives to change, and utilize
win-win strategies that instill hope in the promise of a better future for
all parties.
The goal is not just to superficially stop the violence, but to address
the underlying causes of the conflict to transform the relationships,
attitudes and institutions to create a different kind of society.
Our strategy will integrate top down, bottom up and mid level systems to
foster interactions between levels. We will use multidisciplinary resources
from both communities to address essential dimensions necessary to support
transformation.
Dimensions of this project are inspired by the collective energy, moral
and spiritual force of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC). We will build on what worked and learn from those aspects that were
problematic.
The TRC was presented to the population as something new, hopeful, and
necessary to make a transformation and avoid a bloodbath. As a pioneering,
heroic endeavor, and standing up as a model to the world, it generated a
special atmosphere. It was politically and religiously informed, and was
less attuned to some of the deeper psychological issues that will be
addressed here. But the spirit of the work, and creating "superordinate
goals," in the language of social psychology, would help inspire a positive
attitude and cooperation.
The Middle East, though not worse than other conflicts in the world, is
in the spotlight. Both sides are suffering. Each is gripped by a compelling
narrative, and each feels justified in actions which backfire and make things
worse.
Principles
The process will employ principles of conflict transformation, including
Getting to Yes, GRIT, Gradual Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension Reduction,
Jay Rothman’s work on Resolving Identity Based Conflict, and others.
Transcendent Politics and Transcendent Leadership Everything in the process
will come from a transcendent position, which both includes and transcends
the opposite sides, while refusing to take either side against the Other.
This is described by Carl Jung as the "Transcendent Function" which is
characteristic of consciousness and wholeness. There will be an appreciation
of the need to live in the tension between the opposites without collapsing
to one side or the other.
A Complex Differentiated View of the Other will be promoted through
education and media to counteract the tendency towards Homogenization of the
Other and black-and-white thinking.
Collective Education – An important aspect of this process, as in South
Africa’s TRC, is Collective Education for mutual understanding. A
transcendent position will take the issue beyond focus on the Other, to
understanding the nature of conflict, the generational transmission of
trauma, and being caught up in a historical drama, in order to make it a more
human phenomenon, and less "personal." It will promote empathy and
understanding, both for self and other. Events will be understood in a
dynamic historical context.
Below is a description of structures that are designed to support this
process.
Structures
Several Intuition Tanks will be formed in the US, and will link with
colleagues in the Middle East.
Bicultural Intuition Tank, acting as an Outside Party Force, (though many of
the members will have close ties to the region) will be formed after the
first retreat, with a core group of members who will act as a stable body of
experts in negotiation and conflict transformation. They will consult with
political leaders, religious leaders, educators, historians, media people,
business leaders, celebrities, economists, and will continuously redesign the
process according to how events unfold. We will strive for 50% - 50%
Palestinians and Israelis, Female and Male.
This body will meet on a monthly basis (or more often if needed), and be in
email contact and will continuously monitor and revise the strategy, and
address issues as they arise. The core group will be work closely with
counterparts in two Monocultural Intuition Tanks. Expert consultants will be
brought in as needed.
Monocultural Intuition Tanks will be formed to address specific issues for
each group that need to be explored internally within each society. They will
work in collaboration with the Bicultural Intuition Tank.
These tanks will work with living systems, containing and supporting a
constructive process committed to a win win strategy, using psychologically
sound methods to arrive at a best case scenario.
Communal and Electronic Networks will be established, linking the
professional networks represented in the Intuition Tanks (religious,
educational, media, etc) to NGOs, schools, and relevant institutions. Groups
and institutions will be identified according to representativeness,
credibility, success, and outreach, to carry out the recommendations of the
Tanks. For example, there will be networks of educators and religious leaders
to work with credible and respected authorities and have interventions be
adapted to appeal to people’s higher natures in those systems.
Sanctioning Authority Figures who are committed to win-win approaches to a
peaceful solution will be identified. Religious leaders would be especially
important in this regard, to provide positive messages, and to frame issues
in the most constructive way, to support public acceptance. Religious texts,
rituals, and ordinances that support peace can be used. Political leaders,
celebrities and other authority figures will participate.
Website A website will be constructed as a vehicle for the public to be
informed, educated, and guided in a positive manner, through the process.
There will be a new message every week, framing developments in a way that
promotes understanding, using outside-the-box thinking. It may have specific
themes, like fear, trauma, or identity. It can help each side develop empathy
and understanding of the other side. Educators, psychologists, and media
people can work together to design effective materials. It will have
announcements of positive developments and events. Obstacles to be will be
addressed in an effective way.
Weekly TV Show In South Africa, during the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, there was a regular Sunday night summary on TV, which was a
widely watched collective event, supporting the citizens through this ground
breaking process. A weekly TV show, well designed, could support the
populations in understanding the new paradigm, understanding the narrative of
the "enemy", understanding how life can be better for both.
Nonviolent Peace Force** Following the principles of Richard Wendell
Fogg’s Peacemaking, and David Hartsough and Mel Duncan’s proposal for a
Global Nonviolent Peace Force
(www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org),
and Mubarak Awad’s Nonviolent approach, a pioneering force will be established and
trained in methods of violence prevention, and a combination of nonviolent
forms of force, including economic, political, educational, psychological,
moral and spiritual forms of force.
According to the current proposals for a two state solution, Palestine may
not have a military force, while Israel has a world class military. This
highlights asymmetry and is likely provoke and exacerbate feelings of
inferiority, envy and humiliation, which would be challenging to improving
the atmosphere.
A world-class, pioneering Peace Force would provide a well deserved source of
pride and esteem, as well as being a practical way to deal with conflicts
that arise. It could set an example for the world. It has value on many
levels.
Retreat Centers – should be established in comfortable, aesthetic settings
for prolonged meetings for various groups, throughout the process. Before
working on difficult issues, people will be facilitated in bicommunal
dialogue groups to develop empathy for the narrative of the other side, to
learn about trauma, the image of the enemy, and to get to know each other
personally, as in the model used by the camp Seeds of Peace.
Mutually Potentiating Processes
The website, weekly TV show and other structures will support the evolution
of the process.
Raise consciousness about this new process. Inspire hope. Acknowledge that
the old process had too many problems, and was too flawed to reach an optimal
solution. It’s time for a new, positive, outside-the-box approach, something
completely different. The approach will use the new paradigm, and state of
the art conflict transformation. Perhaps instill a feeling of doing something
new and historic, as in South Africa, a model for the world.
Set up structures.and connections. Establish lines of communication, among
for example, the educators in the bicommunal intuition tank, the monocomunal
tanks, and their networks in society.
Set up structures.and connections. Establish lines of communication, among
for example, the educators in the bicommunal intuition tank, the monocomunal
tanks, and their networks in society.
Organize a series of facilitated retreats with Tank members and the outside
third party team, to establish empathy, personal relationships, experience a
microcosm of the larger process, gain insights, and so on.
Create a Vision together, at retreats and Intuition Tanks, of a positive
future, that is realistic and viable. Describe details of what life might be
like 5 or 10 years into the future, the best case scenario possible in the
region. Describe specifics about how people might benefit economically and
otherwise. This will inspire a sense of possibility and elicit cooperation
with the process.
Public Education Campaign about universal aspects of genocide, conflict, `
trauma, displacement, the image of the enemy, etc. through the website, TV
show, pamphlets, the education systems and other systems. Learning about
these as broader phenomena, and about common themes and patterns beyond one’s
particular situation and similarities, such as the mirror image of the enemy,
helps to give a new perspective and has a salutary effect.
Dr. Ervin Staub, a child survivor of the Holocaust, who has written
extensively about genocide, bystanders, and evil, has discovered in his work
in Rwanda, with Dr.Laurie Pearlman, that the first lecture on the conditions
for genocide has a very positive and profound effect in taking people beyond
their immediate conflict and to see their plight as a part of the human
drama. People were astonished to learn about genocide, that it happened
before and in other places, This kind of education supports a transcendent
attitude.
Outside the Box Education - People can be educated in new ways of thinking,
and outside-the-box approaches as an organizing principle, and this way
raises consciousness. Black-and-white, us-them, group-homogenization remarks
should be identified and discredited as unproductive, and the discourse
should be elevated. Some examples of paradoxical ideas that are easily
understood and enlightening are:
The way to be more secure is to make your enemy more secure.
It s a psychological fact that people are most dangerous when they are afraid
Everyone should be educated in the law of unintended consequences. Even
actions that feel necessary and justified often have the opposite effect.
Being right, righteous and reasonable usually makes things worse. People
should be taught to place themselves in the Other’s position, and imagine how
they would feel and react to their rhetoric and actions (this is part of
emotional intelligence training).
People should understand that domination and other seemingly successful short
term solutions are never stable, always erupt later, usually in a more
virulent way, and perpetuate a never ending cycle of violence. Asymmetrical
power arrangements are inherently unstable.
Principles of psychology and tension reduction should be taught and promoted
in the popular culture.
Monocomunal Intuition Tank Tasks
Each community has internal issues which are better to address within its
own society before addressing certain problems together. Those in the
Intuition Tank, including psychologists and conflict experts will work with
educators and community leaders on assessing the most important issues each
society needs to deal with, and consider useful ways of presenting optimal
messages. This prerequisite training will prepare each group to meet the
Other on better grounding, by clearing out interference from internal issues,
so each can see the Other more accurately.
Both groups will explore and become conscious of their particular sources of
resistance to the new peace process. For example the Israelis need to explore
the impact of the Holocaust on issues around fear, security, and power, the
psychological effects of being occupiers, fear of loss of being in the
privileged position, as well as feelings of guilt, and difficulty
acknowledging suffering caused by displacement and occupation. People tend to
be oblivious to the psychology of privilege and fear of losing their dominant
position.
The Palestinians need to deal with feelings of loss, grief, trauma, gender
issues, suffering and the psychological effects of living under occupation,
including envy and humiliation.
Both groups need to deal with the splits within their own communities,
especially extremists on both sides.
Each also needs to understand the Other’s narrative and resistance to change,
how the issues of each play into the other, as well as stereotypes and the
Image of the Enemy.
Working Group Projects
Weaving a Historical Narrative – Historians, political scientists, educators,
conflict experts, and media people will work together to create a shared
narrative that is accurate and balanced, and presented in a way to promote
understanding, compassion, and humility, as a documentary film, It will
transcend the one-sided stories, which are inherently distorted.. A dynamic
interactional view will show mutual influences and provocations and juxtapose
interpretations of each side. It will allow people to understand patterns,
and become conscious of effects of actions that feel justified but make
things worse.
Many have observed that each side is familiar with, and gripped by their own
narrative, while having little understanding of the narrative of the Other.
Even if they don’t accept the Other’s narrative, it would be a valuable
lesson in empathy to be able to articulate it and to be conscious of the fact
that they, like you, have a compelling story, and may hold it the same way
you hold yours.
A film should be made that presents the dance between the two peoples to
reframe the old stories in a compelling way.
Isaac and Ishmael got together after the death of their father. This story
can be told to give hope and show a way out of the conflict, and the
conditions under which there could be a quantum leap.
The Education System- The Tanks will work together to develop parallel
educational materials and approaches. Recently Israel revised its history
books to provide more accurate information about the expulsion of Arabs in
1948. There have been complaints about the way Israelis are portrayed in
Palestinian educational materials. New materials will support the process.
Economy- Economists, business people, and other relevant experts will
collaborate to develop plans for economic development. They will identify
activities that will attract investors. Improved relations will be good for
the tourist industry, and investment in the beautification of the seaside in
Gaza would boost morale and the economy.
Living Conditions- plans for improving life conditions, transition from
refugee camps, a long range plan for developing Gaza. Hope, dignity, and
noticeable improvements in quality of life will go a long way to reduce
incentives for violence.
Right of Return - This will be addressed in a creative way that will address
the underlying psychological meanings for both sides, and will come up with
some creative solutions, beyond black-and-white thinking. Regardless of the
technical solution, a recognition of the evacuation, loss and the nonliteral
meaning of the right of return has symbolic and psychological value. Perhaps
some compensatory arrangements will contribute to healing, but this will be
explored by experts and perhaps focus groups.
Justice - Restorative Justice - Symbolic Justice, Compensatory Justice,
Economic Justice
A working group will do pioneering work developing a complex system of
creative approaches to Justice, which will work creatively with the needs of
victims and the needs for rebuilding society. It may be best for justice to
be addressed within each community. A differentiation should be made between
leaders of violence and those, including many young people who were caught up
in social forces. Education, training, and reconciliation processes including
apologies and acknowledgements can be designed to support them in becoming
productive members of society.
There will be an attempt to find satisfying and respectful alternatives
to punishment. There will be an emphasis on understanding addressing the
past, and exploring creative ways of dealing with responsibility,
accountability, rehabilitation, and compensation. Truth is essential, and
prosecution will be used in cases where restoration is not possible. The
primary goal is safely. The ideal of redemption will be developed and used
when possible.
Violence Elimination - Experts will address the causes of violence, including
military violence and terrorism, fear, humiliation and will explore
nonviolent forms of force, as well as the initiation of the model for the
world's first nonviolent peace force.
Cultural activities
Develop Cooperative Games, with Palestinians and Israelis, as alternatives to
win-lose competition. Bicultural Peace Concerts
