Orientations: An Introduction

Abstract

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict matters because it has persisted for more than 70 years; it is the epicenter of conflict in the Middle East; and it represents the failure of democratic governments, the United Nations, and other official institutions to negotiate a just and sustainable peace. Israelis have stockpiled hundreds of nuclear weapons and have waged four brutal wars with the Palestinians in Gaza since 2007. This situation has serious implications for the global world order. Because of the failures of government diplomacy (Track One), and the need of grass-roots peace movements for leadership, this book focuses on the crucial role of nongovernmental peacemakers (Track Two). To better understand the role of mid-level, nongovernmental peacemakers (citizen diplomacy, civil society), this study employs interdisciplinary theories and methods of peacemaking, conflict transformation, critical ethnography, and multi-track diplomacy. In the “pyramid model” (Fig. 1.1), Israeli and Palestinian officials (Track One diplomacy) constitute a small group at the top, grassroots peace movements constitute the largest group at the bottom, and nongovernmental, mid-level peacemakers occupy the crucial role of in-depth dialogue and strategic dialogue for a just peace, based on international law and human rights.