In Search of Israeli-Palestinian Peace: An Urgent Call for a New Approach to Middle East Peace

ISBN-13: 9781137565365 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 194 str.

Shai Har-El

Opis

Now that the Middle East is being shaken by deepening political disorder and intensifying conflicts everywhere, this book provides a unique, non-utopian, proactive approach that makes Middle East peace, at least between Israelis and Palestinians, possible.

Recenzje

Beating Swords into Plowshares: In Search of Israeli-Palestinian Peace

by Shai Har-El

Type of audience I envision for the book

The type of audience I envision for this book is at the same time Academic and Professional, as well as an appeal for the large public of readers. It is well researched and informative and it can be a great help to academics, professors and students, and on the other hand, it will have a wide appeal to the large public as it brings a wide scope and coverage of the field of peace in the Middle East, and a new rational, objective and optimistic view to the solving of the long lasting Israel - Palestinian Conflict that has cost so many lives on both sides and so much destruction. Author Shai Harel is certainly suitably qualified to produce a high quality and original book that will draw and satisfy a wide range of scholarly and professional audience, as well as the large public of readers. In addition, this fine book will certainly have both an interdisciplinary appeal and an international appeal.

The significance and quality of the project

This book has a great significance as it presents an original contribution to the field of peace research in general, and to the solving of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in particular. It is deeply researched, informative, objective, well-argued and well-demonstrated. It not only engages with recent scholarship but also takes it forward to where it is most needed, the newly developed area of peace research. The author shows an original and peaceful way how to reach the so long sought for Israeli - Palestinian Peace. One of the major strengths of this proposal is that the research is rigorous and it certainly meets the international standards set by this discipline. By using the Biblical quotation: 'Beating Swords into Ploughshares' for the title of the book, Dr. Shai Har-El brilliantly illustrates that the ways the conflict has been dealt with in the past - 'the use of the Sword' with war after war , has proved that it does not solve the conflict. The Sword - War is not the way. The new, original road the author proposes to adopt is to lay down arms, on both sides, and to turn all materials, amenities and potentials into useful and peaceful instruments (Ploughs) for planting a common field of understanding and harmony, through face to face negotiations, that can pave the way to a Peace Treaty between Israel and Palestine, that will be accepted by both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, like the peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel, and Jordan and Israel. The fine quality of this coherent and richly informative book enhances the message of hope, and it helps to dissipate the nowadays shadowy waves of despair on all sides, concerning the possibilities of peace between Israel and Palestine.

Structure, organization, and presentation of the material

The organization and structure of the varied contents of the book help in enhancing the timelessness of the project, and ensuring its shelf-life. The presentation of the rich materials is coherent, well distributed and wisely laid out. The 'Personal Prologue' before the 'Historical Overview', at the beginning of the book creates a bridge of confidence between the author and the reader, who feels from the outset that he is in good and honest hands. The first chapter in Part One, 'Creating a New Paradigm' draws us at the outset into the heart of the main aspects of the message of the book. After accurately describing his 'New Vision of Peace' in the Middle East and between Israelis and Palestinians, Har-El shows us that where there is a vision there is a way that can lead people to flourish on both sides. He discusses the unrealistic attitude that some leaders and people adopt that maybe the conflict will go away by itself, and he clearly demonstrates that it will not, both leaders and people on both sides, have to work very hard on solving this continuous conflict as it will not disappear by itself. A

Spis treści

Part One: Creating a New Paradigm
1. A New Vision of Peace in the Middle East
2. Middle East Peace: Shifting the Mindset
3. The Prisoner Swap Teaches Us a Lesson
4. Where There Is a Vision, the People Flourish
5. Maybe the Conflict Will Go Away?
6. Traditional Diplomacy in the Middle East Has Run Its Course
7. Do Israelis and Palestinians Have the Right Leadership for Peace?Visioning Peace: The Power of Imagination
8. Failure to Communicate: The Middle East ConundrumDiagnosing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
9. Israelis and Palestinians: "Keep the Hope for Peace Alive!"
Part Two: Finding Creative Solutions
10. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tales from the Past – Lessons for the Future
11. Straight Talk to Israelis and Palestinians
12. The Orchard: Another Story with Morals for Israelis and Palestinians
13. A Trilateral Confederation: Israel, Jordan and Palestine
14. Peacebuilding – A Key Component in the Peace Process
15. Unofficial Track Two Diplomacy: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
16. A Real Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan
17. U.S. Secretary Kerry's One More Mideast Peace Mission
18. Reframing and Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
19. A Time for Israeli-Palestinian Reconciliation
Part Three: Building Bridges of Jewish-Muslim Understanding
20. Jewish-Muslim Understanding: A Matter of Education
21. An Open Letter to My Muslim Friends
22. The Legacy of Abraham Goes Unpracticed
23. Follow the Footsteps of Abraham
24. Religion and Islamist Violence: A Different Take
25. Follow the Muslim Women of Benghazi
26. Killing: A Forgotten Scriptural Lesson
27. An Open Letter to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi
28. Jews and Muslims Can Build a Common Ground
29. Killing Children in Israeli-Palestinian Violence: The Forgotten Moral Lesson
30. How Can Jerusalem Become the City of Peace?
Part Four: Becoming a Peacemaker
31. Middle East Unrest: Challenges and Opportunities
32. Stop the Insanity of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
33. When We Expand the Vocabulary of Peace We Expand the Possibilities of Peace
34. Service is the Highest Form of Patriotism
35. Become a Peace Ambassador
36. A Story of Bereaved Mother
37. What Makes a True Peace Leader?
38. A Visit to Jerusalem
39. Invitation for Action: Spread the Light of Peace
Epilogue

O autorze

Shai Har-El is a historian, educator, writer, poet, rabbi, philanthropist, and businessman. He spent his formative childhood and young adulthood in Israel and served in the Israeli army, both in active duty (1964-66) and army service (1969-71). He participated in the Six Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973). In the last twenty-five years (1990-present), he has been active in building bridges of understanding and reconciliation across the Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Muslim conflict divides. He is the author of Struggle for Domination in the Middle East and Where Islam and Judaism Join Together.

Blurb

The fruit of relentless peace activism and many years of philanthropic work in the Middle East Peace Network, In Search of Israeli-Palestinian Peace is Shai Har-El's unique, non-utopian, proactive approach to Middle East peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Recognizing the magnitude, complexity, and gravity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the evidenced limitations of traditional diplomacy, the author offers ideas how to enhance the Middle East peace process by adding a non-governmental peacebuilding component to the peace efforts. Such citizen diplomacy efforts, he argues, should be launched at a preliminary conflict transformation phase leading up to the final conflict resolution phase. The ultimate objective of this preliminary phase is to create—through alternative avenues, such as private diplomacy initiatives, transnational mechanisms, and backchannels—a win-win environment that is conducive to settling the conflict. This book details the concepts, measures, and techniques involved in the process with the understanding that the keystone for peace is the defiant power of the human spirit in both societies that are hungry for peace.