Military Order Disobedience: An Analysis of Personal and Political Transformation By Daniel Fridberg A thesis submitted to the University of Otago in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Abstract The discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies attempts, in part, to understand the origins of conflicts and to propose strategies of intervention aimed at transforming the attitudes of the conflicting parties. However, although there is a large range of intervention approaches, understanding the nature of the desired transformation on an individual level is still under- researched. This project aims to identify and conceptualize processes of personal transformation in conflict situations, by analysing the personal narratives of soldiers in Israel, who, during their military service, chose to disobey an order or to object to carrying on their military service entirely, for conscientious reasons. The question this study addresses is: what are the social and psychological mechanisms which generate military obedience, and what enables some soldiers to challenge and overcome these impediments. This further question concerns the transformation processes which lead a soldier to conscientiously object. Using Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA), 23 Israeli selective conscientious objectors (SCOs) were interviewed to answer these questions. The analysis sheds light on the social, cognitive, emotional and moral aspects of the transformation process and has helped generate an integrative model of transformation. The theoretical implications of a psychological theory of change and for the practice of conflict intervention are discussed. This study contributes to the understanding of personal transformative processes leading to nonviolent practice of SCOs. ii Preface “Where a Baal Teshuvah stands, even a completely righteous person cannot stand” (Bavli Talmud, Sanhedrin, 91, 1). This famous proverb by the ancient Jewish sages emphasizes the virtue of people who take the effort to reflect on their beliefs and actions and, when needed, acknowledge their mistakes and consciously change their ways. Although originally Baal Teshuvah means a person who has come back to God and religious practice, it is the ability to correct one’s own ways that is admired, rather than faith and religious practice as such. There are many people whom I would like to thank for playing important roles in my personal journey as I was conducting this research. I would like to thank my partner, Keren, and my two daughters, Tamar and Yasmin, who took an incredible leap of faith and travelled across the world with me on this adventure, and whose love and understanding make wherever we are a home far away from home for me. I also want to thank my supervisors, Professor Kevin Clements and Dr. Katerina Standish from the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies for their unconditional support, sound advice and faith in me and in my research project. A special thank you to Michael Moxham, my language editor, whose love for the English language and broad horizons made the process of writing this thesis a fascinating intellectual journey, in which considerations such as Oxford commas were discussed (and rejected) as seriously and profoundly as conscientious objection. Finally, I would like to thank twenty-three courageous men who made the time and effort to share their life stories of their personal and political struggles with me, in times when iii they and others like them are threatened and prosecuted in Israel. Their willingness to re- examine their own beliefs and take a moral stand, while paying the price, surely make them stand where even a completely righteous person cannot stand. iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………..……………… ii Preface…………….………………………………………………………….……. iii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………….... xii List of Abbreviations………………………….…………………………………… xiii Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………..…………… 14 Background…………………………………………………………………… 14 Peace and Conflict Research….………………………………….…… 14 Sociological and Social-Psychological research…………..………….. 15 The Current Study…………...…………….………………………………….. 16 Rationale…………..………………………………………………….. 16 Research Population……………………………..…………………… 17 Research Question……………………..……………………………... 17 Structure of the Thesis………………………………………………... 18 Style and other Considerations……………………………………….……….. 22 Style……………………………………………..……………………. 22 Research Focus on Male COs………………………….…….……….. 22 Terms and Concepts Related to the Israeli Context and the IDF…...….. 23 Chapter 2: Barriers to Conscientious Objection……….……………………….…. 24 Conscientious Objection – Context and Definition………….…………….….. 26 Social and Group-Related Phenomena……………….……………………….. 27 v Group Psychology……….…………………………………………… 27 Individual Psychology in Social Context……….………………….…. 29 Influences of Intergroup Conflict……………………….…………………….. 33 Roots of Intergroup Tension………………….………………………. 33 Intensifying Consequences of Intergroup Tension…….……….……... 35 Barriers to Conflict Resolution……………………………………….. 36 Militarized Masculinities……...……………………………………………… 39 Militarized Masculinity in Israel……………………..……………….. 44 Challenges Presented by State and Social Structures…………………………. 46 Military Socialization………………………………………………… 48 Legislation and Court Ruling…………………………………………. 51 Informal Sanctions……………………………………………………. 53 Summary and the Research Gap………………………………………………. 54 Chapter 3: Conceptual Frameworks of Transformation.……….………………… 57 Modes of Transformation……………………………………………………... 58 Social Transformation Mode…………………………………………. 59 Moral Transformation Mode………………………………………….. 65 Emotional Transformation Mode……………………………………... 69 Cognitive Transformation Mode……………………………………… 76 Contact with Palestinians……………………..………………………………. 81 The Contact Approach………………..………………………………. 81 vi The Intergroup Approach………………………………………..……. 82 The Narrative Approach……………………………………………… 83 From Decision to Action……………………………………………………… 83 Hope and Optimism……………………………..……………………. 83 Summary……………………………………………………………………… 85 Chapter 4: Methodology……..…………………………………..………………….. 88 Conducting Research in the Social Sciences………………..………………… 88 Definitions……….…………………………………………………… 88 Research Approaches in the Social Sciences……………….…………. 91 Considerations for Choosing the Methodology for the Current Study... 96 The procedure of QDA research………………………………………. 97 Conducting this Study………………………………………………………… 98 Ethical and Methodological Considerations…….……………………. 98 Ontological and Epistemological Considerations…………………….. 103 Research Procedure…………………………………………………... 105 Chapter 5: Findings - Background and Early Socialization...…………………….. 112 Background………………………...…………………………………………. 112 Political Orientation from Home……………..……………………….. 112 Early Interests and Involvement in Politics and Social Issues………… 116 Early Socialization………...………………………………………………….. 118 Experiencing Social Marginality as a Child…………...……………… 118 vii Masculine Socialization………………………………………………. 121 Motivation and Ideology for Military Service………………………… 131 Summary……….……………………………………………………………... 135 Chapter 6: Findings - Military Service……………………………...……………… 137 Basic Training………………………………………………………………… 137 Detachment from Civil Life………………...………………………… 137 Adjustment Difficulties……………………………………….……… 139 Internalization of Soldierhood and Adjustment to Military Life……… 141 The Importance of the Peer Group……………………………………. 141 General Experiences from Military Service…………………………………... 142 Positive Experiences……………………………………………..…… 142 Negative Experiences………………………………………………… 143 Militarized Masculinity………………………………………………. 143 Service in the Occupied Territories…………………………………………… 151 Personal Experience and Self-Perception……………..……………… 151 Contact with Palestinians……………………………………………... 156 Contact with Settlers………………………………………………….. 158 Post Mandatory Service: Civic Life…………………...……………………… 162 Changing Context and Perspective…………..……………………….. 162 Political Involvement…………………………………………………. 164 Contact with Palestinians……………………..………………………………. 165 viii Early Contact with Palestinians………………………………………. 166 Mature Contact with Palestinians……………………………………... 170 Knowledge of Arabic…………………………………………………. 177 Summary………..…………………………………………………………….. 178 Chapter 7: Findings – Conscientious Objection and its Aftermath.……….……… 180 Conscientious Objection………………………..…………………………….. 180 Considering Objection…………………………………………........... 180 The Act of Objection………………………………………………….. 182 Consequences and Implications of the Objection……………………... 191 Where they are Today………………………………...………………………. 196 Identity, Ideology, and Political Views……………………………….. 196 Political and Social Activism…………………………………………. 206 Concerns for the Future……………………………………………….. 207 Summary………………………………………………………………..…….. 208 Chapter 8: Findings - Three Modes of Transformation……………...……………. 210 The Emotional Mode of Transformation…………………...…………………. 112 Loss of Trust in the System…………………………………………… 212 Personal Distress……………………………………………………… 217 The Social Context of the Transformative Process……….……………..…….. 220 Importance of the Peer Group………………………………………… 221 Drifting Apart from the Peer Group and from Former Friends………... 222 ix Searching for a New Moral Community……………………………… 225 Cognitive Transformation Process…………………………...……………….. 229 Destabilization………………………………………………………... 229 Ambivalence………………………………………………………….. 242 Ripening…………...…………………………………………………. 246 Summary……………..……………………………………………………….. 249 Chapter 9: Findings - Reflections on the Process……………….………………….. 253 Reflections on the Process