Slomoff Lecturer Addressess Middle East Conflict
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Slomoff
Lecturer Addressess Middle East Conflict
By Anne-Marie Kent
Finding
hope in seemingly hopeless situations is the work of those dedicated
to dispute resolution. As newspapers reported escalating Middle East
violence, UMass Boston’s Dispute Resolution Program presented the
Ben and Sylvia Slomoff Lecture by Harvard professor Herbert Kelman.
Kelman is a scholar-practitioner with twenty-five years of experience
promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
At the October 11th event, Dr. Kelman delivered his paper,
“The Role of National Identity in Protracting and Resolving Ethnic
Conflict: the Israeli-Palestinian Case,” and described the problem-solving
workshops for the Israelis and Palestinian groups he and UMass Boston’s
Nadim Rouhana have held since 1990.
Although Dr. Kelman did not address current events, he
did suggest that long-term resolution of the conflict might be achieved
through negotiation at the level of national identity. National identity
is a powerful part of the Middle East equation. Dr. Kelman explained,
“For many involved, simply acknowledging the other’s identity
becomes tantamount to jeopardizing the identity...of one’s own
group.”
Despite this powerfully divisive crisis, Dr. Kelman said
that the concept of negotiating at the national level provides hope
for change. According to Kelman, national identities are to a large
extent constructed and they can be redefined. He explained, “While
neither Palestinians nor Israelis will give up the core of their identity,
there remain various elements of each group’s identity that can
be ‘negotiated’ in the interest of mutual accommodation.”
For example, in working with Israeli and Palestinian groups facilitated
by Drs. Kelman and Rouhana, Dr. Kelman reported, “Many members
of both communities have become able to remove the negation of the other’s
identity as an integral part of their own identity.”
Reflecting on the success of the lecture, program director David Matz
said, “Dr. Kelman brought to his lecture over twenty-five years
experience working with Israelis and Palestinians, and he gave us the
theory, the practice, and the stories. It was a unique moment for faculty
and students.”
Above Photo: Herbert Kelman, Harvard professor, discusses his work