Israel learns the Palestinian narrative
A Ben-Gurion University study has found that learning the Palestinian narrative developed a genuine dialogue among the parties, without destabilizing the Israeli narrative among the students.
On May 28, the annual flag march was held on the streets of Jerusalem on the occasion of Jerusalem Day. Tens of thousands of young Israelis affiliated with religious Zionism celebrated the political union of the city that was “liberated” 47 years ago. At the same time, several hundred power-drunk youths paraded through the alleys of the Old City, strutting their domination in front of shuttered windows, calling out racist epithets such as “Mohammed is dead,” “Death to Arabs” and “May your village burn down.”
These chants were intended for the ears of thousands of Jerusalemites for whom Jerusalem Day signals humiliation, discrimination and alienation. Most Israelis were raised on the notion that Jerusalem is “the capital of the Jewish people for eternity” and were taught that Jerusalem is “the city of King David.” According to the Israeli narrative, the Palestinian neighbors, who have lived in the city for generation upon generation, are “Arabs” who have infiltrated the land promised to the Israelites.
The growing separation between Israelis and Palestinians over the past two decades has bred a generation that does not know at all “the other” who lives beside him on the same piece of land. The Nakba law, which imposes fines on institutions that mark the defeat of the Palestinians in Israel’s War of Independence, actually completely negates the legitimacy of the Palestinian narrative. The obsessive preoccupation with the exclusivity of the Jewish identity in the State of Israel also provides fertile ground for one-dimensional thinking and collective demonization of the neighbor. At the root of this introversion is the fear that knowing the other’s narrative will weaken the hold of the self-narrative and the constant vigilance against the next confrontation in the conflict's chain.
A study titled “An Encounter with the Suffering of the Other” was conducted in the framework of an annual course taught at the education department of Ben-Gurion University. It illustrates a firm link between increasing the level of knowledge and sensitivity to the complexity of the conflict and the exposure to the narrative of the other — and the willingness for reconciliation and development of a sense of responsibility for pushing it forward.
