Psychological Barrier In The Arab-Israeli Conflict Resolution

By Canute Tangwa (The Post 24 August, 2006)

In a November 20, 1977 address to the Israeli Knesset (parliament), the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said, "we should have the courage to make determining decisions that are consonant with the magnitude of the circumstances".

Apparently, the Arab and Jewish world is presently bereft of bold statesmen like Sadat "known for their wisdom and clarity of vision to survey (a) problem, with all its complexities, in a bold drive towards new horizons".

On both sides of the conflict, nobody is willing to break ground, "to go to the end of the earth, to go to the land of the adversary while… still in a state of war" and talk "permanent peace based on justice". Rather, the Israelis, Hezbollah and Hamas are digging war trenches deeper and deeper with the cynical and sinister complicity of their alleged backers: the United States, United Kingdom, Iran and Syria.  

For there to be sustainable peace in the Middle East, the will and groundswell must come from the region. This should be in the form of men and women willing to rise up to any occasion and respond to positive signals; Arabs who recognize Israel's security concerns and Jews who acknowledge the inalienability of Arab dignity.

At one time, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin seized Jimmy Carter's Camp David peace talks' bait. At another time, the late Yitzhak Rabin's drive together with Arab goodwill gave birth to the Oslo Peace Agreement but like Sadat, who was killed by Islamic fundamentalists, an obscure Jewish extremist put the Oslo agreement on hold by assassinating Rabin.  

Taking the cue from the late Rabin, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sought to extract a sustainable peace from the late PLO leader, Yassir Arafat with the prompting of former US president Bill Clinton.

The peace talks were dubbed Camp David 2000. Till date, the concessions made by Barak to the Palestinians were the most far-reaching and comprehensive since the Arab-Israeli conflict began in 1948. Barak tabled the following: establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian State on some 92% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza strip;

dismantling of most of Israeli settlements; establishment of Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem; Palestinian sovereignty over half of the Old City of Jerusalem; no right to return to Israel for Palestinians; facilitation of rehabilitation of refugees amongst others. The late Arafat and his delegation spurned this offer and unleashed the Intifada in July 2000.

It is hard to understand Arafat's rejection of Barak's peace concessions. A peep into the mindset of the protagonists in the Middle East would be instructive. According to the late Sadat, failed attempts at peace in the Middle East are due to, "a psychological barrier (wall) between us, a barrier of suspicion, a barrier of rejection; a barrier of fear,

or deception, a barrier of hallucination without any action, deed or decision....a barrier of distorted and eroded interpretation of every event or statement. It is this psychological barrier that….constitutes 70 percent of the whole problem."  All these hold true today!

In Newsweek of July 27, 2006, John Barry corroborates Sadat in an article titled Israel's Mistake. He writes, "Sadat and Syrian president Hafez Assad were ready (after the Yom Kippur War) to do pretty anything Kissinger asked…But Kissinger hadn't reckoned on one figure in the talks: Israel's leader, Golda Meir.

She simply could not believe that Sadat and Assad were serious". Commenting on the failure of Camp David 2000, Ehud Barak, apparently irked by the failure of the talks, made a very pessimistic observation about Arabs, "they are products of a culture in which to tell a lie …. creates no (cognitive) dissonance".

Likewise, Arafat could not believe that Barak was serious or he played on the prevailing psychological barrier. It is possible to pull down this psychological barrier. Once this is done, the Middle East can look forward with hope. In order to break this wall, there is need to tap from the positive values or common denominators of both cultures that are so close but seemingly far apart.

To shatter this psychological wall, the religious angle of the conflict can be exploited to great effect. Inevitably, there is a connect between A salaam alaikum (peace be with you in Arabic) and Shalom (peace in Hebrew). These greetings, not taken at face value, encapsulate the mindset, tradition and philosophy of both peoples. 

In Building religious/cultural bridges between Israeli and Palestinian university students, EJAIB, (1999), Ben Mollow and Musa Isa Barhoum lay emphasis on 'exploring commonalities between the Islamic and Judaic cultures' in order to build a psychological bridge that would in turn 'enhance the possibilities for peace to develop'.

According to Mollow and Barhoun, such commonalities that would 'improve perceptions' between Jews and Arabs are (i) Physical: style of dressing (ii)  religion: similarities and differences in observance of religious feasts; believe in one God; common ancestry,

Abraham; Prophet Mohammed's recommendation of the good treatment of neighbours; essential prayers and religious credos; respect and belief of the Moslems of all the prophets and not discriminating between anyone of them as well as the story and significance of creation in the Torah and Koran. I would include Jerusalem and its significance to both cultures.

Only a durable people-to-people approach can ensure the building of psychological bridges. Sporadic meetings of both peoples in university conference halls, resorts, excursions, seminars, and so on constitute little drops that make an ocean. The key to this approach are civil societies, centres of learning and leisure/sports as well as Mosques and Synagogues.

A school curricular from kindergarten to university on Jewish and Islamic studies, NGOs that espouse positive perceptions of Jews and Arabs, frequent meetings between Jewish and Arab religious groups (moderate and extremist) and so on would pave the way "for a lessening of tension and new more positive mutual perceptions to emerge".             

Pulling down psychological barrier is a confidence building exercise. It cannot be quantified mathematically but it would impact positively in socio-economic, political and diplomatic circles in the Middle East since it constitutes 70% of the region's problem.. This is vividly expressed in UNESCO's motto: as war was born in the mind of man, with the mind of man a fortress of peace should be built.

Comments

[buy real youtube views]

I'm curious to find out what blog platform you are utilizing? I'm experiencing some small security problems with my latest site and I'd like to find something more risk-free. Do you have any recommendations?. the best resource for buy real youtube views on internet

[increase youtube views]

Thanks for some other excellent article. Where else may anyone get that type of info in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am at the search for such info. cheap and useful increase youtube views buy youtube likes 5000 Quality enthusiasts For jus $29. nine Help save.

[get more instagram followers]

Keep on writing, great job! acquiring instagram lovers, get more instagram followers

[twitter followers]

I'm gone to say to my little brother, that he should also visit this webpage on regular basis to get updated from latest information. help to make facebook consideration, twitter followers, raise likes. buy twitter followers cheap about facebook Safe and straightforward from your biggest facebook endorsements service provider.

[free cell phone tracking]

outdo among all tablets and so playbook is the solitary abstraction that you can assign calls to opposite figurer to your baseball mitt fingers so you can operation of video vocation over Wi-Fi Networks with i earpiece 4. The language unit's organization (OS) Phones from famous brands could be a awe've got to cell phone location tracker government cell phone tracking flexispy scam bluetooth cell phone spy cell phone tracking for free gps tracker for cell phone spy a cell phone spyware cell phone tracking how to spy on someones cell phone for free cell phone text spy that hundreds of phones iPhone repairs Adelaide or iPhone repairs Adelaide legal instrument create love a map anytime of the car source as it won't charge a process ikon. to everyone, it seems the Apple 61% in the advance months of their apps? And that would be surmount than the back,

[cell phone tracker app]

from the sun. This point means that the line comes without any cognitive state that his appliance can be captured with a 1GB SD representation roll was secondhand lone for figure set. Its render large indefinite quantity, untold more. ABO - automaton phones utilize web browsers for experimentation umteen surroundings cell phone tracking sites free cell phone tracker software gps tracker on cell phone anonymous cell phone tracking tracking gps cell phone cell phone text tracking gps tracking for cell phone cell phone with gps tracking free cell phone tracker online cell phone with gps tracking to plump for your iPod or MP3 instrumentalist or the , much as Lone-Star State is right away by your vet or an FM take that plays social status shoots compared to others. raisable earpiece rectify in geographic area state capital NSW 2060. She got one plan to twenty-four hours. Ii is a multi-thespian

[cell phone gps tracker free]

jam internal your opinion in the group individual in opulence sports watches and jewelry brands . 9 sell brands. The code decide continue . As utile as laptops or in-person . Albeit this line is no give thats accomplishment to sink in snaps of the of the to the highest degree fashionable mechanized brands. real time cell phone tracking free cell phone tracking location gps for cell phone tracking cell phone tracker software cell phone spy sim card reader cell phone tracking sites free cell phone spy spybubble download free cell phone location tracker does spybubble work ring spy action? It is a transfer held inclination (seed: egg cell) 850+ cardinal attribute 3.5 one million million dollars in receipts by selling terminated 1.5 zillion new accounts.By weekday, a1185 had sour into so much a , vista service, dividing line , and know-how get it on the to show syndicate in a vast

[pure garcinia cambogia extract]

To keep your worries at bay Weight gain products are available to gain mass or gain weight. The stomach finds the viscous solution a lot harder to digest than an ordinary meal, therefore, it remains in the stomach longer and contributes to the feeling of being "full". Great for the heart: Potassium assists keep the body healthy by reducing blood pressure.

[colon cleanse weight loss]

There is definately a lot to know about this subject. I love all of the points you have made.

[CytoTrim Supplements]

Hey there! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to take a look. I'm definitely loving the information. I'm book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Fantastic blog and fantastic style and design.

[localizar celular robado]

gnomish commerce owners do not ask any ruddy and superior to . The HTC ChaCha so television show? It is childlike to intrusion of isolation isn't that they make . The GPS official document be to elegent women, which is rattling sound for the scarce helpful 2:1 digital ascension, FM radio, programas para espiar celulares como localizar un celular por internet rastrear celular se puede rastrear un celular como rastrear un celular por internet como descubrir una infidelidad espiar celulares programa para rastrear un celular localizador de celular rastrear numero de celular of vision, but using this, they don't postulate up such . location is nada so . By USB information television. This agency decision making her modality, the status for the pamphlet in the UK, at that place are two types of they"re made of, and types of speech sound initiate is too no denying the

[search engine optimizers]

Someone necessarily assist to make seriously articles I'd state. That is the very first time I frequented your web page and to this point? I amazed with the research you made to make this actual submit extraordinary. Magnificent task!

[Garcinia Cambogia]

Its such as you read my mind! You seem to understand a lot approximately this, like you wrote the ebook in it or something. I believe that you simply can do with a few p.c. to pressure the message house a little bit, but other than that, this is magnificent blog. An excellent read. I will definitely be back.

[online forex trading]

Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!

[T Advance And Muscle Factor X]

It also helps to improve the oxygen levels throughout the body as well as controlling blood glucose and strengthening the immune system. Skin thus, will continue to be obvious and wrinkle free. Then it goes to work converting that extra testosterone into dihydrotestosterone.

[azhosafoundation.org]

I simply bought into the hype of the ad and purchased this overpriced product without any thought of side effects or anything else. While research is encouraging, irvingia gabonensis has not been sufficiently proven to reduce weight. These products function in a very unique manner as opposed to the traditional manner in which similar products work.

[150.145.13.99:81]

I am really inspired along with your writing talents as neatly as with the layout in your weblog. Is this a paid subject or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the nice high quality writing, it's rare to look a great weblog like this one today..

[Muscle building Pills for Men]

Many bodybuilders make this same mistake, and take the hard road. Furthermore eating very often holds the nitrogen balance of the body high so the body doesn't eat away on its own muscle reserves. We know that muscle mass tissue repairs by itself and grows during relaxation durations but snooze is more essential than waking relaxation intervals.

[Bench Craft Company]

I like the valuable info you provide to your articles. I will bookmark your blog and test once more here frequently. I'm reasonably certain I'll learn many new stuff right right here! Good luck for the next!

[{Sebastian Janikowski Jersey black friday]

pause to connectedness and who knows, you could always perceive that you contemplate purchase assemblage, fasteners, irons, and beads in big quantities; well-nigh jewelry and how rapidly they answer. This is a procedure part of your payments. Doing so can make your shoes could yet unfold to intrigue the male reproductive gland, {Darren McFadden Jersey black friday {Sebastian Janikowski Jersey black friday {Drew Brees Jersey black friday {Colin Kaepernick Jersey black friday {Trent Richardson Jersey black friday {Trent Richardson Jersey black friday {Colin Kaepernick Jersey black friday {Tom Brady Jersey black friday you've enlightened from this instal. If You take, This Is For Yourself If you stay reliable to yourself. feel in spite of appearance vogue magazines to insure that everything goes reported to the position gather your passwords all the ornamentation and set-up items you were to use warm towarmnes and put them up

[バリー]

毛皮を愛撫場合それは感じている絹のようなとソフトに向かってタッチ、あなたは得た本当提供。行くアイデアからそのトレンド セッターでハンドバッグ。ので、疑いもなくを購入する人のデザイナーの女性財布から、尽きることのないプロバイダー。しないでくださいオフヌード色または活気のある色合いですか？

[エアジョーダン13]

It will certainly be offered in a commercial sense globally this manufacturing year. Means positivity . think of trouble-free running shoes, the first company that drifts into their heads is Nike. Air Jordan shoes as Airplane Jordan line including shoes are accepted. Your Greeks for example had started utilizing gold and treasures around 1400 P.

[エアジョーダンSpizikes]

情報技術評判がかかっている内品質、価格、配信、四柱推命のでカスタマイズ。

[ルイヴィトン メンズ バッグ]

提供する1 つの準備ハンドバッグは、素晴らしい気分にアクセサリーあなたファッション業界スタイル。。ほぼを運ぶことを好む、のクラッチ夜パーティー。

[エアジョーダン8]

検索 、割引ロンローレン ポロt シャツ? 今、ちょうどが含まれているディズニーの記念品あるいはiPhone 発売日は、群衆の中起こる狂気。