The Palestinian Dilemma
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EVALUATING PEACE EDUCATION IN THE OSLO/INTIFADA GENERATION: AN IMPACT STUDY OF SEEDS OF PEACE 1993-2010 BY Ned Lazarus ABSTRACT Since 1993, several thousand Israeli and Palestinian youth have participated in 12 summer “coexistence” programs in North America. The programs espouse a common theory of change: that an experience of dialogue in an idyllic American setting will inspire youth to return to the Middle East as aspiring peacemakers. This dissertation provides the first large-scale, long-term empirical assessment of that theory, by tracking the peacebuilding activity of all 824 Israeli and Palestinian graduates of SOP's first decade of operation (1993- 2003), and complementing this with qualitative research on more than 100 adult graduates (ages 21-30). The longitudinal framework assesses fluctuations in activity over time, highlighting the influence of changing personal, organizational, and political contexts. Key findings include that more than half of alumni engaged in peacebuilding during high school; that compulsory Israeli military service discouraged activity among both Israeli and Palestinian graduates; that nearly one-fifth of alumni engaged in peacebuilding as adults; and that extensive follow-up programming was essential for sustaining long-term commitments to peacebuilding. The study concludes that the international intervention structure embeds an effective educational model in a problematic organizational model. While providing an unprecedented evaluation of a popular peace education approach, this study tells the stories of a pivotal generation: Palestinians and Israelis who entered adolescence at the hopeful dawn of the Oslo peace process, to emerge as adults in an era of intifada and “separation.” 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the culmination of a journey of eight years of practice, and seven years of research, study and writing. The journey has been informed and inspired by the work of a wide community of peacebuilders and scholars in the Middle East and the United States, and sustained thanks to the generosity and support of colleagues, family and friends. My debts of gratitude extend far beyond those listed in these pages; I hope to acknowledge in person all who contributed, and hope you will find my work worthy of your contributions. My committee provided intellectual inspiration, patient counsel and professional mentorship throughout this process. My committee chair, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, guided me mindfully along a path that he pioneered, from Israeli-Palestinian dialogue to peacebuilding practice to reflection, scholarship and teaching. His critical insights and personal example continue to shape my vision and work in all of the above. Susan Shepler’s evocative portraits of youth, culture and identity in contexts of humanitarian intervention taught me the power of ethnography and sharpened my analytical lenses. Anthony Wanis St.- John’s chronicles of secret Middle East negotiations mirror the dynamics and pressures of Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding at all levels. You all have given me models to emulate in my work with students and colleagues. I also wish to acknowledge the inspiration and guidance of Herbert Kelman, Susan Allen Nan, Peter Weinberger, and the late Dan Bar-On. My research was made possible through support from the United States Institute of Peace, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and American University’s School of International Service and International Peace and Conflict Resolution program. I gained invaluable experience through teaching Conflict Resolution at American University, Georgetown University and the University of Massachusetts-Boston. I wish to thank Ron 2 Fisher, Louis Goodman, Susan Hackley, Scott Lasensky, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, David Matz, Robert Mnookin, Fathali Moghaddam, Stephen Silvia and Craig Zelizer for these opportunities, and all my colleagues, friends, students and teachers at these institutions. The empirical and theoretical bases of this study evolved in dialogue with the groundbreaking scholarship of Emile Bruneau, Michelle Gawerc, Maia Hallward, Phillip Hammack, Sonja Arsham Kuftinec, Edie Maddy-Weitzman, and Ahsiya Posner; many thanks to all of you for sharing insights, broadening my perspective and the boundaries of our field. Special thanks to my writing group, Shai Fuxman, Michelle Gawerc, and Karen Ross, for providing in-depth, real-time feedback on countless drafts and for the privilege of engaging with your works in progress. Since moving from practice to research, I have been privileged to be an in-law of the Just Vision project, which kept me connected to diverse Israeli and Palestinian communities, activists and initiatives. The films and interviews produced by my wife Nahanni Rous, Ronit Avni, Julia Bacha and all of their colleagues, present the work of Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders in all its courage, complexity and nuance. I am deeply grateful to my friends and partners Sami Al-Jundi and Jen Marlowe, who have vividly chronicled our years of work together at the Jerusalem Center in Sami’s remarkable memoir. Your contributions to the community that is described in this study are beyond evaluation. I am sure our colleagues from the Center share that assessment, and I am sure you share my gratitude to them. At SOP, I wish to acknowledge Bobbie Gottschalk, who has been a mentor to me and innumerable staff and “Seeds” over 18 years of quietly fostering confidence, dialogue and empathy among youth in conflict. Additionally, I thank Leslie Lewin, Eva Gordon and other SOP staff and directors for their continuing work and their assistance with my research. 3 I hope I can be forgiven for a collective expression of gratitude to hundreds of people – SOP graduates and families from every region, current and former staff and directors of this and other organizations – who have given of themselves to build the extraordinary transnational community linked by Seeds of Peace. In particular, I wish to thank all my interviewees and others who shared their the stories of their lives, their experience and expertise over the course of my research – from Seeds of Peace, as well as the directors and staff of other North American “peace camps,” and our colleagues throughout the field of Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding. It would take an entire dissertation to do justice to the contributions, efforts and insights of so many dedicated people; it is my hope that this research will, in some small way, do just that. It is hardest to find words to express my gratitude to the ones I love: To Nahanni and Shalvah, for their patience with my commitment to completing this long journey, and for snapping me out of it for precious moments of human life every day; To our parents, brothers, sisters, families and friends, who have shared the joys of our lives together, comforted us through tragedy and loss, and strengthened us every step of the way. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………....... 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………..………….......…xx LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………….xx Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND, REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE....................5 2. RESEARCH DESIGN, METHODOLOGY, CONTRIBUTION…………………….56 3. QUANTITATIVE FINDINGS: Analysis of Alumni Peacebuilding Activity……....... ...80 4. FLAG-RAISING: NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SEEDS OF PEACE ………............ 171 5. A SOLDIER AND/OR A "SEED OF PEACE": THE ISRAELI DILEMMA ............213 6. DIALOGUE, OCCUPATION AND NORMALIZATION: THE PALESTINIAN DILEMMA………............................................................................................................…….... 262 7. SELF-DETERMINATION: THE DILEMMA OF PALESTINIAN CITIZENS OF ISRAEL ............................................................................................................................................316 8. GRADUATE STAFF: “PROGRAM” VERSUS “ORGANIZATION” ....................... 370 9. CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………..........412 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………….xx BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………...xx 5 List of Tables and Figures Table 2.1: North American Programs for Israeli and Palestinian Youth 20 Table 2.2: Differences Between International and Indigenous Encounter Models 22 Table 2.3: Quantitative Research Sample - Graduates of SOP Program 1993-2002 65 Table 2.4: Distribution of SOP Graduate Interviews 68 Table 2.5: Qualitative Research Sample 72 Figure 3.1: Distinctions Between Active, In Touch and Out of Touch Participation 92 Table 3.1a: Percentage of Alumni Participation During First-Year 114 Table 3.1b: Percentage of Active Alumni Participation During First-Year 114 Figure 3.2: “Re-Entry” Pressures and "Follow-up" Incentives After Camp 118 Table 3.4. Declines in Overall Participation During High School 121 Table 3.5a. Percentage of Alumni Participation Post-High School 126 Table 3.5b: Percentage of Active Alumni Participation Post-High School 126 Table 3.5a. Changes in Overall Participation at Post-High School Stage 128 Table 3.5b. Declines in Active Participation Post-High School 128 Table 3.6. Peacebuilding Initiatives in which Adult SOP Graduates Worked 137 Table 3.7: Active Adult Graduates (Minimum Estimates) 140 Table 3.9: Indicators of Optimal Contact Conditions – SOP and Contact Theory 147 Table 3.10: Alumni Participation by “Camp Class,” 1993-1996 152 Table 3.12: Alumni Participation by “Camp Class,” 1997-1999 157 Table 3.13. Alumni Participation by “Camp Class,” 2000-2002 163 Summary of Comparative Conditions by Era 165 Table 3.14: Detail of Program