Discourse, Culture, and Education in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Discourse, Culture, and Education in the Israeli-Palestinian Co nflict Table of Contents Introduction Fear or Hope? - The Israeli Media and the Future of Political Conflicts Dr. Motti Neiger .....................................................................................................................................................................4 The Palestinian Political Discourse: The Impact of Different Social Components Mr. Ashraf Ajrami ..............................................................................................................................................................10 Recognition of the Other and Self-Constitution: Recognition Gaps of a Palestinian People and/or State in Israeli Political Discourse Mr. Elie Friedman .............................................................................................................................................................17 The Other in the Palestinian Education System Dr. Nedal Jayousi ............................................................................................................................................................26 The Discourse and Practice of Peace Education Policy in Israel Ms. Soli Vered .....................................................................................................................................................................34 A [No] Story of their Own: The Crisis of Identity Narrative in the Arab Education System in Israel and a Proposition for Alternative Modeling Dr. Dalia Fadila ...................................................................................................................................................................42 The Connection between Palestinian Culture and the Conflict This project is funded by the Dr. John Ashley and Dr. Nedal Jayousi .....................................................................................................49 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Israel Office. We are greatly thankful for The Difference between a Fictional Narrative and the National Narrative their generous support of the project. Dr. Yuval Benziman ........................................................................................................................................................60 Biographies of Researchers ......................................................................... 68 December, 2013 All rights reserved © The commercial use of media published by FES without written permission by FES is strictly forbidden. שימוש מסחרי בפרסומים של קרן פרידריך אברט ללא אישור בכתב של הקרן אסור בהחלט. Scientific Editor: Dr. Reuven Pedatzur Copy Editing: Mr. Elie Friedman Graphic Design and Printing: Merav-Dascalu Publishing, Ltd. Discourse, Culture, and Education in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 1 Introduction There can be no doubt that there are reciprocal relations between the discourse, culture, and education within Israeli and Palestinian societies and the state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The nature of these essential features in the socialization of both societies impacts and is impacted by the public awareness of the conflict. Despite the fact that the nature of a potential endgame to the conflict has become clearer to each society over the last decade, it would appear that each society has become more skeptical with respect to the possibility of achieving this peaceful resolution. The question of how the above mentioned socialization features contribute to this perception requires extensive study. Thus, the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue at Netanya Academic College came to the conclusion that there is a need to assemble an expert working group to analyze these trends in the relevant fields. Early in 2013, we approached the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Israel office, with this concept, who showed great enthusiasm towards the initiative, providing essential cooperation, facilitation, and support for this project. Thus, we assembled a Palestinian-Israeli working group, comprised of eight researchers, who over the last number of months met for two seminars and produced the unique articles that comprise this edited volume. The first topic examined was the nature of the political and media discourse in each society. Dr. Motti Neiger examines the way in which the Israeli media presents a collective vision of the future, coming to the conclusion that this vision is primarily characterized by fear. Mr. Ashraf Ajrami offers a survey of Palestinian political discourse over the last number of decades, presenting a unique perception of the interaction of the leadership-imposed discourse and "street" discourse. Mr. Elie Friedman analyzes the nature of recognition of the Palestinian Other within Israeli political discourse, and how this recognition or lack thereof impacts constitution of the Self. The next topic that was tackled by the working group was that of peace education in the respective societies. Dr. Nedal Jayousi offers an examination of the state of the Palestinian education system, while presenting how questions of education for pluralistic and tolerant values are approached within the education system. Ms. Soli Vered presents a survey of the evolution and changing approaches of peace education in the Israeli education systems, offering a unique rationale for promoting peace education during periods characterized by conflict. Dr. Dalia Fadila's contribution to this publication analyzes the lack of identity-based content in the Arab education system in Israel, while offering an alternative approach towards identity education among the Arab pupils in Israel. The final topic covered in this publication is that of the relationship between culture in each society and the conflict. Dr. John Ashley and Dr. Nedal Jayousi offer a joint article which analyzes how various central Palestinian cultural figures and intellectuals contribute to the Palestinian public awareness of the conflict. Finally, Dr. Yuval Benziman's contribution offers a unique examination of the way in which the narrative presented in fictional texts - films and novels - differs from that presented in official political narratives. 2 Discourse, Culture, and Education in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict It is our hope that the varied and original contributions that comprise this volume will offer new insights to policy makers, media professionals, educators, cultural figures, and the general publics in both societies. I would like to personally thank our dedicated research team for their efforts towards offering new insights on these important issues during our challenging and uncertain times. Finally, I would like to thank the new team at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Israel office – Dr. Werner Puschra, Director, and Ms. Judith Stelmach, Project Manager, for their essential cooperation, input, and support throughout this project. Dr. Reuven Pedatzur Director S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue Netanya Academic College Discourse, Culture, and Education in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 3 Fear or Hope? - The Israeli Media and the Future of Political Conflicts Motti Neiger The role of the media in political conflicts has been scrutinized perceptions regarding the future and solvability of political in dozens of books and articles: portraying the parties in conflicts. conflict, imposing the frames on the interpretation of events and drawing the boundaries of the "in group" and "out-group". The media and the future This paper attempts to go beyond previous research and What will happen tomorrow? In one week? In a month? A to suggest that the media has an important function in year? A decade? One might answer that “the future’s not ours shaping our perceptions regarding the future of political to see” as the famous song suggests. However, researchers conflicts, the intentions of the groups in conflict, and thus (e.g., Jaworski et al., 2003a, 2003b, 2004; Neiger, 2007) on our understanding of the chances to solve a conflict. point to an important phenomenon: a significant amount In other words, we see no partner when we perceive the of news items refer to future planned events or anticipated other side as capable of harming us in the most dangerous occurrences. Among the varied mediated manifestations manner (while encountering with worst-case scenarios). of the “discourse of the future” we can find the reporting We see no solution when we interpret the enemy actions on planned meetings (“the president to meet the secretary and intentions according to the fundamental attribution of state”), results of votes before they take place (“the error, overestimating the effect of the other side disposition cabinet to approve…”), authorities’ reaction to occurrences or personality (their "lethal nature") and underestimate the (“the government will send more forces…”), economic effect of the situation in explaining their social behaviour. forecasts (“AOL-Yahoo deal could happen this month”) or Thus the role of the media as a major agent in the process even presenting “worst case scenarios” regarding terror of social construction of reality is crucial. The consequences and war (“Intelligence officials say al-Qaeda will try to attack is that the media focuses on the most violent actions and U.S.”), technological or epidemical catastrophes (“Swine belligerent statements, i.e., promoting fear, while concealing flu will return in the winter and thousands of people could peaceful trends and