3.1 Reducing prejudices and stereotypes to achieve development and ... conflict broke out between Arab armies and the Jewish groups (United Nations, 1990).
UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND MANAGEMENT
Prejudices and Stereotypes in Conflict Areas: PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT
Rawa’ Talhami
Master of Governance and Development
Academic Year 2016-2017
Table of Contents
SECTION I 1.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................3 SECTION II 2.1 Prejudices and stereotypes in conflict areas.............................................................5 2.2 Xenophobia in Israel................................................................................................7 SECTION III 3.1 Reducing prejudices and stereotypes to achieve development and peace...............8 3.2 Reducing prejudice through cognitive process and brain stimulation.....................8 3.3 Reducing prejudice through Media to promote intergroup relations.......................9 3.4 Reducing prejudice through social and economic interactions and exchange.......11 3.5 Reducing prejudice through peace-building initiatives..........................................13 3.6 Personal experience in implementing peace-building projects..............................14 SECTION IV 4.1 Conclusion..............................................................................................................15 4.2 Reference................................................................................................................16
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SECTION I 1.1 Introduction Since the UN partition plan in 1947 to give part of the land to Jews immigrants, a conflict broke out between Arab armies and the Jewish groups (United Nations, 1990). After the war was over, the now recognized Israeli state had already conquered more than 70% of the land. In May 1948, Israel gained its independence. As a result, approximately 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land by force and about 150,000 Arabs stayed in the land in 1949 and are now known as “Israeli Arabs” (Morris, 2001). Until this day, the Israeli policies cause deterioration on the economic, social and political aspect as a result of movement restrictions, violations of basic rights, building of settlements and withdrawal of identity cards of citizens (Naqib, 2002). The lack of resources and access to services has caused people to experience hardships, as many people cannot have access to basic services. Many struggle to attain education and start their careers, but they get hit by a wall of unemployment and lack of job opportunities. The effects of the conflict has spread to reach other aspects of living in which both Palestinians and Israelis are affected by. Many authors have explained the causes and effects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Roy (1999) mention that since the Oslo agreement, there has seen a marked deterioration on many aspects especially the economic, in addition to what she called a de-development process. She highlighted how the conflict impedes development and how the Palestinian economy is dependent on the Israeli to survive. She also mentioned how the expropriation of land, water and resources has led to dominishing the economic base and weakened the labor market. Moreover, Friedman (2016) describe how the conflict has created identity dispute which happens when people feel that others deny their existence and their rights. The conflict has started as fight over the land but extended beyond that to reach identity, culture and religion (Pedahzur and Yishai, 1999). Israelis and Palestinians began to perceive each other as outgroups as the situation have caused the formation of negative perceptions. In their book, Uleman, et al. (2007), describe how impressions about different groups are formed based on their traits and aims. They mention that Impressions are affected by the information each individual observe or receive while interacting with the other and that positive or negative perceptions can be formed cognitively based on specific situations or experiences. Brewer and Weber (1994), link in-group positive feelings with out-group negative feelings, they explain that threat is one of the reasons why negative perceptions are formed towards other people. This leads us to how Palestinians and Israelis formed prejudiced attitudes towards each other as a result of specific events or situations. 3
Miglietta et al. (2014) examine the causes of prejudice and relate it to social dominance. They mention the importance of knowing the causes of prejudice in a certain society in order to be able to reduce it. They use theories that emphasize the importance of causal and explanatory variables which means giving people the chance to explain the events that led them to form negative perceptions about other groups in the same community. They conclude by saying that cognitive justifications of attitudes and actions of other groups cause people to hold negative impressions about them. They also reject their opinions and in other situations their whole existence. What I aim to emphasize in this research is the process by which prejudiced attitudes and negative perceptions are formed between different groups in the same community. The main focus will be on communities that suffer from conflict and war with focus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The research will mention causes of hatred and mistrust between Palestinians and Israelis by going back to historical events and analyzing previous research. The research will also highlight few mechanisms for reducing prejudice based on previous academic work in order to take into consideration using the same or similar mechanisms for the Palestinian-Israeli case; with attention to the context. These mechanisms include reducing prejudice through cognitive and brain stimulation, usage of media, social and economic interactions and peace-building programs. The research will also emphasize the importance of local civil society organizations and international donors in reducing negative perceptions Palestinians and Israeli through peace-building initiatives. In the end of the research, I will link the discussed topics to my personal experience in implementing successful projects that aimed at gathering Palestinians and Israelis. These projects were implemented under the peace-building purpose but had positive effects on interactions in social and economic life.
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SECTION II 2.1 Prejudices and stereotypes in conflict areas Some authors seem to agree about the general meaning prejudice concept but define it using different words. Jones (1997: 10) defines prejudice as “a positive or negative attitude, judgement or feeling about a person that is generalized from attitudes or beliefs held about the group to which the person belongs”. Brown (2011: 7) sees prejudice as “any attitude, emotion or behaviour towards members of a group, which directly or indirectly implies some negativity or antipathy towards that group”. Both authors focus on beliefs and events in which people form perceptions about each others. In attempts to define stereotype, Hilton and Hippel (1996) state that stereotype is a result of interpretation of group features that differeniate them from ours. Cardwell (1996) stated that stereotype happens as a result of generalizing an attribute or belief about specific group of people. Feder (2014: 321) introduced the concept “otherness”, he addresses stereotypes as cognitive structures that are processed in our heads about other groups. He also mentions that this happens as a result of information that we receive or shape in our brains. Moreover, Bordalo et al. (2016) believe that changing stereotypes could happen when people receive information because they reavaluate their perceptions. These authors agree on the effect on information received in shaping perceptions. In areas where conflict exits, different community groups form positive or negative impressions about each others. As mentioned by Allport (1954: 233): “[r]ealistic conflict is like a note on an organ. It sets all prejudices that are attuned to it into simultaneous vibration. The listener can scarcely distinguish the pure note from the surrounding Jangle”. People are now studying theories of social psychology about group conflicts in attempt to find re-conciliation initiatives and resolutions. In explaining the prejudice in some conflict areas, Sherif and Sherif (1969) mention that prejudice transpires when different groups have different interests in a conflict area. It also arises when these groups fight over resources or identity and that in some cases, people may judge each other deliberately as a reaction to the conflict. They also refuse to interact or have any sort of a relationship. Fisher (2005), believes that identity-based conflicts are one of the hardest to resolve. Many communities have experienced stereotypes over the history. For example, Americans have suffered from stereotypes and discriminations such as between white and black citizens. In their article, Wolfe and Spencer (1996) mention a study conducted in American schools where students were given a small task which is to distinguish between names of politicians and criminals. A high number of students chose AfricanAmerican as criminals and white Americans as politicians. This shows that common stereotypes that are created by people of a given country, can be shaped in the minds of future generations over the years and therefore, stereotyping becomes generalized. 5
In some situations, perceptions even persist after the re-conciliation process. In South Africa, negative perceptions remained after the demise of apartheid. In her article, Burns (2006) explain about stereotypes in South Africa after the end of the apartheid and transition to democracy. She explains that despite the progress achieved, people needed more initiatives to reduce the negative effects that the apartheid caused to them. Another example related to prejudice and stereotypes is the Israeli-Palestinian case in which I emphasize in this research. After the incidents of the year 1948 when it all started, negative perceptions started to form as a result of the events that led to a complex situation in the region. Since then, Palestinians and Israelis do not easily accept the idea of interacting or building ties between each other. According to a research implemented in Jerusalem to analyze ethnic group stereotypes, sixty interviews were carried out in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with Arab and Israeli students who happen to have almost daily interactions together. They were asked open-ended questions to reflect on their opinions about the stereotyping between Palestinians and Israelis. It was noted that all students began the conversation by providing a brief about the conflict or even real violations that they were personally exposed to. Which means that their negative impressions were formed as a result of specific events and situations. In the end of one of the interviews, an Arab student was asked by the interviewer whether he goes out with Israeli women. His reply was “Sometimes I ask a girl, but when she finds out I’m an Arab, it’s all over”. In addition, one of the Israeli students that were chosen for the interviews, was asked about his opinion of the Arab football team in Nazareth. He replied with “They’re always last on the list, they will never improve” (Peres and Levy, 1969: 484). Another Israeli student explicitly said that allowing Arabs in the university is like betraying ourselves. He thought that Arabs should be banned from Israeli universities. (Peres and Levy, 1969). Besides the fight over the land and identity in the first place, a minority in both societies perceive the conflict as religious. They link their perceptions to events in which the Israeli occupation violated the rights of Palestinians in Holy places1. The prejudice and stereotypes are a result of all the events that have taken place over the history, and is currently ongoing. From the examples illustrated above, we realize that a certain group can shape an idea about another as a result of real events and situations. In the case of my research, both Israelis and Palestinians live in the same land and are actually interacting with each other on a daily basis. However, in reality, such interactions carry within negative perceptions and unacceptance of each other. In the following sections, I propose mechanisms in which we can reduce prejudice between different groups in the same community based on previous academic research, studies and experiments conducted in different countries including conflict areas.
1
Israeli violations of holy places https://electronicintifada.net/content/hra-releases-report-israeli-violations-against-christian-muslimholy-places/420
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2.2 Xenophobia in Israel Xenophobia as defined by English dictionary is a fear or hatred for foreigners from different cultures2. Jolly and DiGiusto (2014) define it as a general hostility towards foreigner. Yakushko (2009: 43) defines it as “a form of attitudinal, affective, and behavioral prejudice toward immigrants and those perceived as foreign”. Reynolds et al. (1987: 28) state that xenophobia is a “psychological state of hostility or fear towards outsiders”. Crowther (1995: 1385) emphasized that xenophobia focuses on individuals who come from “other countries” and toward whom native individuals have “an intense dislike or fear”. Generally, these authors agree that xenophobia is a fear of people from different countries or cultures. Pedahzur and Yishai (1999) mention that hatred in Israel resulted from the Arab-Jewish conflict. They see Arabs as threats to their social status, cultural identity and economic growth. Although Israel has achieved progress after it gained its independence, it is still going through a struggle on the societal level. According to a study by Pedahzur and Yishai (1999), Israelis hated Arabs, foreign workers and Jewish Ethiopians. Arabs were hated the most compared to others, in addition, many Israelis disagree on giving them equal rights as them. A survery that aimed to identify causes of hatred for people who don’t belong to the Israeli community was conducted in 1999. Israelis linked this feeling to different reasons. The highest percentage variables were culture, religion and ethnic origin. The cultural factor can be explained by identity formation and the religiosity factor can be linked to ethnic culture (Pedahzur and Yishai, 1999: 112). After the regression analysis of general hatred in Israel, the results of this survey were as follows: Table 1. Regression analysis of hatred causes in Israel (Pedahzur and Yishai, 1999) Variable
Beta
T
Culture
0.315
5.796
Religion
0.237
3.975
Ethnic Origin
0.062
1.162
In conclusion to the aforementioned survey, we can tell that some Israelis have trust issues, fear or hatred to non-nationals living in their land. This may have been influenced by the past experiences of Jews over the history, as they encountered so much suffering. According to the same survey, results showed that their hatred for Arabs is higher than others, which can be justified by the role the conflict plays in increasing this hatred whether Israelis towards Palestinians or vice versa.
2
Xenophobia definition by English dictionary http://www.dictionary.com/browse/xenophobia
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SECTION III 3.1 Reducing prejudices to achieve development and peace Lack of contact between conflict groups in the same country leads to bias and increases the sense of prejudice (Cuhadar and Dayton, 2011: 276). Therefore, creating interactions between these groups may decrease negative perceptions. According to Allport (1954) prejudice between groups in conflict areas can be reduced if the contact taking place is focused on common goals and benefits for both groups. In the following sections, I highlight mechanisms for reducing prejudice based on previous academic research and experiments. 3.2 Reducing prejudice through cognitive process and brain stimulation Bodenhausen et al. (2009) explain the mental process of forming perceptions or impressions about people. In their article, they mention that negative perceptions may happen without intention and when they do, it becomes in some way hard to reverse them since the image stick in the cognitive processing of individuals. This means that our cognitive process plays a role in the process of judging and categorizing other people. In their article, Sellaro et al. (2015: 891) state that “increasing cognitive control may overcome negative bias toward members of social out-groups”. Moreover, Bodenhausen et al. (2009: 121) mention “re-categorization” strategy as a cognitive mechanism to control prejudice in which two different groups that hold negative perceptions about each other, could imagine themselves as members of one inclusive group that combines the common characteristics, identity and cultural practices of these two groups. In their book, Ponterotto et al. (2006) say that in order to prevent prejudice, groups should treat each other as if they were more similar instead of pointing out the differences even if they exist. Futhermore, in an academic attempt to reduce prejudice through focusing on common attributes and goals, Berger et al. (2016), investigate the effectiveness of learning programs in reducing prejudice. They aimed to examine the effectiveness of “ECEP” which is the Extended Class Exchange Program that is meant to reduce negative perceptions including the emotional and behavioral, by focusing on equal status, common goals and intergroup cooperation. The program also focused on information since its lack may increase prejudicial behavior. For the intervention, a sample of 100 students (52 Israeli and 48 Palestinian students) was taken from 10th grade. The intervention included face to face interactions between those young students regarding social, cultural and political issues, in addition to sharing opinions about the conflict. Insted of focusing on differences between the groups, the discussion process between the Israeli and Palestinian students was based on mutual perceptions, interests and goals and was preceded with warm-up exercises and experiential work depending on the issue. After the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data of the twelve bi-monthly meetings, results showed a more positive attitude towards each other compared to data collected before the interventions. 8
In the same school, another program called “KTH” which stands for the key to the heart, focused on developing social-emotional skills. The themes included social interaction, community involvement, and management of the ongoing conflict and promotion of respect. The program exposed students to test on negative feelings, discriminatory tendencies and readiness for social contact. After twenty four bi-monthly meetings, results showed that such programs were effective in reducing negative feelings and perceptions and increasing the readiness to socially and culturally interact with other groups in the same land. As stated by Berger et al. (2016: 65), “[t]he results indicate that the program was most effective in reducing negative feelings, negative stereotyping and increasing readiness for social contact”. Therefore, future initiatives that aim at reducing prejudice between Israelis and Palestinian could use cognitive process and brain stimulation mechanism, influenced by previous effective studies and experiments. This could be achieved through targeting students that share the same schools and universities and get them to discuss and set common goals. Successful interventions could form a great promise in changing negative perceptions to positive ones. 3.3 Reducing prejudice through Media to promote intergroup relations
Another mechanism to reduce prejudice is using media in order to promote positive interactions between groups from different communities who share negative perceptions about each other. Tal‐Or and Tsfati (2016), conducted a study to test the effectiveness of direct group contact using media in reducing prejudices and stereotypes between different groups in conflict areas. The study was conducted in an ethnically diverse campus in an Israeli univrsity during the time of the Israeli occupation attack on Gaza strip when losses occured in the Palestinian and Israeli side as well, as a result of Hamas bombing Israeli areas. A number of 245 students were randomly chosen to watch a movie about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The movie showed how an ill Palestinian child from Gaza who had a genetic illness was treated in an Israeli hospital. The movie had two versions and Israelis where randomly distirbuted to watch it with other Israelis or with Palestinians. The two versions were: 1. Pro- Israel: focused on how an Israeli doctor was trying to save the life of the Palestinian child in the hospital, Israeli soldiers bringing presents to the child and an Israeli reporter who volunteered to bring blood tests from the child’s family in Gaza to see if they match with his. 2. Pro-Palestine: focused on the feelings of the mother and the bombing of the Israeli occupation forces on Gaza and the fact that while an Israeli doctor was trying to save the life of the Palestinian child, Israeli occupation soldiers were bombing other parts of Gaza which included children of course.
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It’s worth mentioning that no verbal communications took place during or after the movie. The questionaries tested Israeli’s Willingness to interact with Arab Palestinians, attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the level of Empathy towards Palestinians. Some of the questionaire’s options included “I feel that I understand how the person I watched with felt while watching the film”, and “While watching, I felt like the person I watched with felt” (Tal‐Or and Tsfati, 2016: 655). Results of the study: 1. When Israelis watched the movie with Palestinians there were more positive results rather when they watched it with other Israeli members of their groups. This was explained by the sense of “in-group membership” which means that the presence of people from the same group will not help in achieving the main purpose which is reducing prejudice between different groups. 2. The different versions of the movie which are the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli versions, helped in reducing prejudice by increasing empathy towards other people and what they were going through. And this empathy increased the willingness to interact with each other. Since most studies had limitations, the fact that no verbal communications or discussions took place, led to a slight change in negative perceptions. In addition, the study was conducted in special circumstances at the time of war, fear and losses, which means if it was conducted in another period, results may have changed or the percentage decrease in prejudice would have been higher. In another research by Scharrer and Ramasubramanian (2015), in which they test the effectiveness of media in reducing racial or ethnic prejudice through various communicate messages. They mention previous conducted research that used qualitative and quantitative methods to realize the effect of media in reducing prejuice. To make their conclusions, they mention studies by other authors (Austin and Meili in Scharrer and Ramasubramanian, 2015) who conclude about the effectiveness of media in promoting knowledge and shifting attitude, in addition to other study by (Cole et al. in in Scharrer and Ramasubramanian, 2015) in which they talk about the effectiveness of their intervention regarding intergroup messages in reducing stereotypes among Israeli and Palestinian Children. The researchers concluded that media could drive social change in the future and that efforts implemented through media can shift attitude and influence people’s perspectives. In their book, Bratic and Schirch, (2007: 8) state that “[t]he media shape what we see and hear about conflict”. They also mention that media can have a positive role in conflict areas, if properly used. In this sense, media could be a tool to reduce prejudice between Israelis and Palestinians. Mechanisms used can be derived from previous successful studies or new ones that regard the Israeli-Palestinian context and conflict.
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3.4 Reducing prejudice through social and economic interactions and exchange Cox et al. (2014) highlight the importance of social interactions as a condition for promoting and ensuring social and economic development. Over the last years, many programs were planned and implemented to gather Israeli and Palestinian youth to learn about each other’s history and culture and to share their opinions, ideas about the conflict and their hopes for the future. Economic interactions are also essential in promoting ties between different groups in conflict areas. In her article, Rettberg (2016), mentions that businesses and investments are the keys towards peacebuilding. Business participation may be motivated by investments, revenues and the idea of growing the economy of the land. Moreover, Barbieri mentions the importance of common goals in her article on economic interdependence by stating the concept “Interstate linkage” in the classical-liberal view as a tool to improve interactions, combine mutual interests and mediate the conflict (Barbieri, 1996: 30). According to Forrer and Katsos (2015), private sector initiates peace-building as business, trade and economic interactions can help in promoting peace and prosperity. “There are a lot of obstacles but there... are business opportunities to make”, said IsraelPalestinian Chamber of Commerce executive officer to Media line, during a conference that was hosted by Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management under the name “Encouraging Cross-Border Business Ties”3 (O’sullivan, 2012). It was agreed to hold regular business meetings to cooperate and build personal ties between different Palestinian and Israeli companies4. They both emphasized the importance of making deals with manufacturers because Palestinian and Israeli citizens like to buy products produced in both areas. The executive officer also stated that “[t]hese kinds of meetings contribute to narrowing these gaps and thus to promoting economic ties that will one day be a factor in making peace between both parties”. In the same conference mentioned above, examples of economic interactions between Palestinians and Israelis were mentioned. In 2011, trade between Israel and Palestine reached up to $4.3 billion and is still increasing. Palestinian manufactures in Hebron in the West bank, produce Jewish related products such as Kiddush cups and Seder dishes, they sell them to Palestinian and Israeli wholesalers in different areas. A simple example is the products sold in super markets, Israeli supermarkets contain Palestinian products and Palestinian supermarkets contain Israeli products. These simple interactions can be seen as a bridge to build trust and open borders to expand trade.
3
News section at the website of Ben-Gurion of the Negev University “Conference Encouraging CrossBorder Business Ties” https://aabgu.org/conference-encourages-stronger-business-ties-
between-pa-and-israel/ 4
Media Line News- Conference hosted by the Faculty of Business and Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev http://www.jpost.com/Business/Business-Features/Israel-increasing-importsfrom-Palestinian-areas
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Moreover, it was suggested that the Israeli governments allow tours for Israeli companies and businessmen in the Palestinian area in the West Bank in order to learn more and negotiate with Palestinians on joint contracts for business expansion. Furthermore, every year and during the holy month of Ramadan, Israel opens the borders for Palestinians from West Bank to come to Jerusalem and pray in Al-Aqsa mosque5. The relaxation of movement restrictions and the provision of entry permits does not only bring thousands of Palestinians to Jerusalem, in addition, the Israeli revenues increase substantially as a result of economic transactions in different Israeli markets. The effect of Palestinians on the Israeli economy was noticed in 2014, when the Israeli occupation started a war on Gaza strip under the name “Protective edge” 6. As a result, Palestinians’ anger caused them to boycott7 Israeli products which caused the sale of Israeli products to decline during the months of Gaza war, as according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestinian imports from Israel decreased by 7.3% compared to the month that preceded the war. 8 It’s also worthmentioning that in general, a high percentage of Palestinian students graduate from Israeli universities to start their career in the West Bank, Jerusalem or the Arab side in Israel. Both education and labor rate are high as besides the reliance on raw materials and products, many Palestinians gain their living by working in Israeli markets and settlements. The following table demonstrates the number of Palestinians working in Israel according to the year 20159: Table 2. Number of Palestinian workers in Israel Total number of Palestinian workers in Israel
100,000
Culture
0.315
Religion
0.237
Ethnic Origin
0.062
5
Israel Eases restrictions on movement during the holy month of Ramadan http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2016/06/04/israel-eases-restrictions-on-palestinian-travel-duringramadan/ 6 Israel launches “Protective edge” war on Gaza http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2016/06/04/israel-eases-restrictions-on-palestinian-travel-duringramadan/ 7 A study by Birzeit University in the West Bank shows Increase in Boycott of Israeli Products After Gaza War http://old.birzeit.edu/news/study-shows-increase-boycott-israeli-food-products-after-gaza-war 8 Sales of Israeli goods in West bank fall due to war on Gaza launched in 2014. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/08/22/sales-of-israeli-goods-in-west-bank-down-50due-to-boycott 9 Palestinian Bureau of Statistics http://pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopDefault.aspx?lang=en
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In their research, Barbieri and Schneider (1999) address the positive effects of trade on conflicts. They find out that trade increases ties and cooperation and that economies that are interdependent have more potential to interact and achieve mutual goals and benefits. In the case of the Palestinian Israeli conflict, using trade for other purposes such as strengthening the military may cause disastrous outcomes. It’s important to highlight the need to reduce restrictions on movement if they aspire to build ties with Palestinian citizens and manufactures in an attempt to nourish the economy. This could be achieved through agreements, in addition to planning programs that allow Palestinians to connect with Israeli manufactures and producers and organize events. 3.5 Reducing prejudice through peace-building initiatives Local and international institutions and donors play a role in promoting peace and ensuring social and economic interactions between Palestinians and Israelis. Many international donors have supported the region by providing grants for implementing projects in these areas. Some of these projects are implemented on the local levels, others include Palestinian and Israelis working together. The main goal is to get Palestinians and Israelis to interact and work together by promoting reconciliation and peace. They are achieving this through awareness raising, capacity building, social interaction projects, cultural and sports activities, in addition to other activities that include discussions, negotiations and experience sharing. The purpose of peacebuilding projects is much deeper than the title they carry. Table 3. Palestinian, Israeli and international institutions working on peace-building. 10 Palestinian Institutions
Israeli Institutions
International Institutions
The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights Palestinian center for Human Rights Al-Maqdese
Gush Shalom
UN Peace-building commission
Combatants for Peace
USAID
B’Tselem
EU
Miftah
Sikha Mekomit
Addameer
Active Stills
Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel (JPPI) European Jews for a Just Peace
10
Palestinian and Israeli institutions working on peace-building. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2014/0910/13-Israeli-andPalestinian-groups-building-peace
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3.6 Personal experience in implementing peace-building projects I have personally gained experience in implementing peace-building projects during my work as a project coordinator in a Palestinian non-profit organization. We have implemented peace-building projects funded by international donors, which aimed at social and economic empowerment of Palestinian youth, men, and women; including marginalized groups. The UNWOMAN funded project was a huge success. The project provided capacity building and vocational trainings to Palestinian women to enable them to enter the Palestinian and Israeli markets. After the project implementation, women had the chance to participate in local Bazaars and present variety of products made by them including handmade accessories, crafts, soaps and food. The American Consulate in Jerusalem organizes Bazaars for Palestinian women entrepreneurs on an annual basis. The last bazaar which is the seventh, took place in November 2014, under the name “Women’s Microenterprise Bazaar” 11 . It brought together Palestinian manufactures and designers of Palestinian products and was seen as an important part of the consulate’s effort to nourish the economy and encourage economic exchange. This Bazaar was a home for Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners and showed that such initiatives by local and international organizations will increase interactions between Israelis and Palestinians and benefit the land on social and economic aspects.
11
“Women’s Microenterprise Bazaar by the American Consulate in Jerusalem” https://jru.usconsulate.gov/palestinian-women-entrepreneurs-jerusalem-west-bank-gaza-launchseventh-annual-bazaar/
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SECTION IV 4.1 Conclusion To conclude, this research provides insight on the prejudiced impressions people in conflict areas hold against each other as a result of certain events and situations that lead to their formation. In some countries, such impressions are formed as a result of seeing others as a threat to a certain community. The formation of these perceptions happens cognitively and is affected by the information individuals receive, events that take place or situations they experience. Previous research, surveys and experiments provide successful implementations of interventions that reduce prejudice between different groups in the same community and who hold negative perceptions towards each other. Based on few mechanisms used around the world for the purpose of reducing prejudice, initiatives that aim at building ties and interactions between Palestinians and Israelis could take the same path in the future with regard to the context. Findings of previous research show cases that had positive results when it comes to usage of cognitive and brain stimulation and control, in addition to proper usage of media. Furthermore, based on the statement of Barbieri (1996: 44) that “[t]he greatest hope for peace appears to arise from symmetrical trading relationships”. Economic exchange between Palestinians and Israeli can be seen as an effective way to reduce prejudice. This conclusion could be based on the information and statistics provided in this research regarding the Palestinian-Israeli economy. Finally, peace-building including awareness raising, capacity building, cultural activities, youth and women empowerment encourage and contribute to building collaboration between Palestinians and Israelis. This final role depends on the efforts of local institutions and international donors in making that happen.
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4.2 References Adeebfs (2016) Palestinian Women Entrepreneurs from Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Launch Seventh Annual Bazaar https://jru.usconsulate.gov/palestinian-women-
entrepreneurs-jerusalem-west-bank-gaza-launch-seventh-annual-bazaar/ (last consulted: 9 March, 2017). Ahmad Melhem (2014) Sales of Israeli Goods in West Bank Down 50% Due to Boycott https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/08/22/sales-of-israeli-goods-in-west-bank-down50-due-to-boycott (last consulted: 8 March 2017). Allport, G.W. (1954) The Nature of Prejudice, Cambridge, Mass, Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Barbieri, K. (1996) “Economic interdependence: A path to peace or a source of interstate conflict”, Journal of Peace Research, 33(1): 29-49. Barbieri, K. and Schneider, G. (1999) “Globalization and peace: Assessing new directions in the study of trade and conflict”, Journal of Peace Research, 36 (4): 387-404. Berger, R., Benatov, J., Abu-Raiya, H. and Tadmor, C.T. (2016) “Reducing prejudice and promoting positive intergroup attitudes among elementary-school children in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict”, Journal of school psychology, 57: 53-72. Birzeit University (2015) Study Shows Increase in Boycott of Israeli Food Products After Gaza War http://old.birzeit.edu/news/study-shows-increase-boycott-israeli-food-products-aftergaza-war (last consulted: 7 March 2017). Bodenhausen, G.V., Todd, A.R. and Richeson, J.A. (2009) “Controlling prejudice and stereotyping: Antecedents, mechanisms, and contexts”, Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination: 111-135. Bordalo, P., Coffman, K., Gennaioli, N. and Shleifer, A. (2016) “Stereotypes”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(4): 1753-1794. Bratic, V. and Schirch, L. (2007) Why and when to use the media for conflict prevention and peacebuilding, European Centre for Conflict Prevention. Brewer, M.B. and Weber, J.G. (1994) “Self-evaluation effects of interpersonal versus intergroup social comparison”, Journal of personality and social psychology, 66(2): 268 Brown, R. (2011) Prejudice: Its social psychology, John Wiley & Sons. Burns, J. (2006) “Racial stereotypes, stigma and trust in post-apartheid South Africa”, Economic Modelling, 23(5): 805-821. Cardwell, M. (1996) Dictionary of Psychology, Fitzroy Dearborn, Chicago, IL Cox, F.D., Orsborn, C.R. and Sisk, T.D. (2014) Religion, peacebuilding, and social cohesion in conflict-affected countries, Research report. Colorado: Sié Chéou Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, University of Denver. Crowther, J. (ed.) (1995) Oxford advanced learners dictionary of current English: International new students, London: Oxford University Press.
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