No peaceful solution in sight for Israelis and Palestinians —- Professor Hollis
Leave a commentMarch 25, 2015 by THE WELSH HORIZON
In the wake of Israel’s third war in Gaza last summer, the divide between Israelis and Palestinians grows ever-stronger, said Professor Rosemary Hollis.
“The Palestinians experienced a level of wanton violence they had not before, they felt they were being punished just for being Palestinian,” she said in a lecture to Cardiff University students on Friday, March 20.
Professor Hollis, who is an expert in war studies and the Middle East, conducts research into the decades-old conflict by analysing the dual national narratives of the contested region.
The City University London professor said narratives define how societies perceive their role in a conflict: “We are identifying with a construct that has a meaning for us.”
Across the globe, binary conflict narratives always contain negative “them” characteristics and positive “you” attributions. In the case of Israel and Palestine the two narratives feed off one another and are therefore intertwined, said Professor Hollis.
“Getting people to die for the cause requires a pretty powerful narrative,” she added, commenting on the violence of both narratives.
In last week’s Israeli election Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu provoked his base’s paranoia and fears of leftist political complacency when he posted a message on his personal Facebook page saying “droves of Arabs” were outvoting Jews.
Here Netanyahu played to one of the oldest Israeli narratives: conservative politicians keep Palestinian authority in check, vote conservative to safeguard Israel.
“The power relation expressed in narratives is not one of equality,” said Professor Hollis, who has been working with Israeli and Palestinian youth for the past seven years as the head of City University London’s Olive Tree Program.
The scholarship programme brings together both Israeli and Palestinian students at City University London to study, interact and learn from one another. In one particular exercise Professor Hollis asks students to study their national narrative of a defining event in the region’s history. The students then present their findings so each may witness the narrative, the ‘truth,’ as told by the opposition.
“Narrative is more magical and mystical than an explanation of motive,” said Professor Hollis of the exercise.
Understanding that your identity, your perception of the world, is shaped by preconceived narrative is a very daunting idea to grasp, said Professor Hollis. However, she added: “familiarity with the enemy is not an automatic producer of peace.”
By Emily Gowdey-Backus
Photography from City University London website
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