“We Didn’t Talk About the Conflict”: The Birthright Trip’s Influence on Jewish Americans’ Understanding of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict

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dc.contributor.authorBen Hagai, Ella
dc.contributor.authorWhitlatch, Adam
dc.contributor.authorZurbriggen, Eileen L.
dc.date.accessioned2018-02-23T18:36:32Z
dc.date.available2018-02-23T18:36:32Z
dc.date.issued2018-02
dc.description.abstractEmerging adulthood is a time of identity exploration during which youth actively engage with beliefs and values that shape their political orientation. In this study, we examine the processes and consequences of young adults’ exploration of their Jewish identity as it is embedded in the Birthright trip (a free 10-day trip to Israel that is offered to Jewish American emerging adults). In a pretrip/posttrip survey, we found significant increases in Birthright participants’ endorsement of the Jewish root narrative on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Jewish people want to live in peace but must defend themselves), disavowal of the Palestinian narrative and understanding of the conflict, sense of collective victimhood, and understanding of the conflict as a zero-sum game. In a separate interview study, participants’ narratives of the trip suggested that identification with the Israeli soldiers as being “just like us” as well as border-making between safe (Jewish) and unsafe (Arab) spaces, led to an understanding of the conflict that was based on the Jewish root narrative. Our findings highlight some less examined consequences of identity exploration among emerging adults who are members of groups enmeshed in violent conflict.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBen Hagai, E., Whitlatch, A., & Zurbriggen, E. L. (2018, February 1). “We Didn’t Talk About the Conflict”: The Birthright Trip’s Influence on Jewish Americans’ Understanding of the Israeli– Palestinian Conflict. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pac0000289en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11209/11687
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Psychological Associationen_US
dc.subjectIsraeli–Palestinian conflicten_US
dc.subjectdehumanizationen_US
dc.subjectvictimhooden_US
dc.subjectcollective narrativesen_US
dc.subjectidentity explorationen_US
dc.title“We Didn’t Talk About the Conflict”: The Birthright Trip’s Influence on Jewish Americans’ Understanding of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflicten_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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