Society, Culture, & Thought
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Browsing Society, Culture, & Thought by Subject "diaspora"
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Item Beliefs Predicting Peace, Beliefs Predicting War: Jewish Americans and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict(Wiley, 2013-12) Ben Hagai, Ella; Zurbriggen, Eileen L.; Hammack, Phillip L.; Ziman, MeganJewish Americans’ beliefs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can serve either to inhibit or to facilitate the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Attitudes toward conflict resolution and beliefs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its origins were assessed among a sample of 177 Jewish Americans. Endorsement of a monolithic view of the conflict represented the strongest predictor of non-compromising attitudes toward the Palestinians. Endorsement of dehumanizing and delegitimizing statements about the Palestinians predicted non-compromising attitudes to a much lesser extent. A zero-sum view of the conflict and beliefs about collective victimhood did not predict non-compromising attitudes toward conflict resolution. Findings are discussed in terms of their challenge to theories of collective victimhood in conflict settings and their support for the centrality of narrative in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.Item Between Tikkun Olam and Self-Defense: Young Jewish Americans Debate the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict(PsychOpen, 2017) Ben Hagai, Ella; Zurbriggen, Eileen L.In this study, we examined processes associated with ingroup members’ break from their ingroup and solidarity with the outgroup. We explored these processes by observing the current dramatic social change in which a growing number of young Jewish Americans have come to reject Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. We conducted a yearlong participant observation and in-depth interviews with 27 Jewish American college students involved in Israel advocacy on a college campus. Findings suggest that Jewish Americans entering the Jewish community in college came to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a lens of Jewish vulnerability. A bill proposed by Palestinian solidarity organizations to divest from companies associated with Israel (part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions or BDS movement) was also interpreted through the lens of Israel's vulnerability. As the college’s Student Union debated the bill, a schism emerged in the Jewish community. Some Jewish students who had a strong sense of their Jewish identity and grounded their Judaism in principles of social justice exhibited a greater openness to the Palestinian narrative of the conflict. Understanding of Palestinian dispossession was associated with the rejection of the mainstream Jewish establishment’s unconditional support of Israel. Moreover, dissenting Jewish students were concerned that others in the campus community would perceive them as denying the demands of people of color. We discuss our observations of the process of social change in relation to social science theories on narrative acknowledgment and collective action.