Youth Encounter Programs in Israel: Pedagogy, Identity, and Social Change

By Karen Ross

As the level of distrust and alienation between Jews and Palestinians has risen over the past fifteen years, the support for grassroots organizations’ attempts to bring these two groups closer has stagnated. Jewish-Palestinian youth encounter programs that flourished in the wake of the Oslo Accords now struggle to find support, as their potential to create positive social change in Israeli society is still unknown.

In Youth Encounter Programs in Israel, Ross attempts to assess that potential by considering the relationship between participation in Jewish-Palestinian encounters and the long-term worldview and commitment to social change of their participants. Taking a comparative approach, Ross examines the structure and pedagogical approaches of two organizations in Israel, Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut. In doing so, Ross explores how these different organizations shape participants’ national identity, beliefs about social change, and motivation to continue engaging in peace-building activities. Based on more than one hundred interviews with program staff and former participants as well as more than two hundred hours of program observation, Ross’s work fills an important gap in the literature and holds significant relevance for peace education and conflict resolution practitioners.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press
• Release date: Oct 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9780815654209

Karen Ross

Karen Ross is a former journalist, broadcaster and advertising copywriter who continues to run her own successful marketing consultancy in the absence of a job offer to manage Tottenham Hotspur. She lives in Primrose Hill, where she and her dog, Scrabble, are among the least famous residents.

Book preview

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Copyright © 2017 by Syracuse University Press

Syracuse, New York 13244-5290

All Rights Reserved

First Edition 2017

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For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu.

ISBN: 978-0-8156-3554-3 (hardcover)978-0-8156-3540-6 (paperback)978-0-8156-5420-9 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ross, Karen (Educator), author.

Title: Youth encounter programs in Israel : pedagogy, identity, and social change / Karen Ross.

Description: First edition. | Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, 2017. | Series: Syracuse studies on peace and conflict resolution | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017031185 (print) | LCCN 2017033607 (ebook) | ISBN 9780815654209 (e-book) | ISBN 9780815635543 | ISBN 9780815635543 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780815635406 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780815654209 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Peace Child Israel. | Sadaka-Reut. | Jewish youth—Israel—Societies, etc. | Youth, Palestinian Arab—Israel—Societies, etc. | Jewish–Arab relations—Societies, etc. | Social change—Israel. | Intergroup relations—Israel. | Multicultural education—Israel. | Peace-building—Israel.

Classification: LCC HQ799.I7 (ebook) | LCC HQ799.I7 R587 2017 (print) | DDC 303.4095694—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031185

Manufactured in the United States of America

For Alon, Sonya, and the next generation of peacebuilders.

Contents

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Context, Encounters, and the Question of Impact

2. How Do We Know?

Assessing the Impact of Intergroup Encounters

3. Setting the Stage

Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut

4. Worldview Horizons

Exploring Visions and Theories of Change

5. Engaging in Social Change

Motivations, Inspirations, and Action

6. Narratives, Identity, and Ethnonational Discourse

7. Conclusions

Appendixes

References

Index

Tables

1.Summary of Interviews with Program Alumni

2.Role of Encounters in Shaping Worldview Horizons

3.Factors Shaping Alumni Perspectives on Their Own Self-Efficacy

4.Primary Sources of Inspiration for Activism

5.Definitions of Activism among Participants

6.Ethnonational Identity Claims Articulated by Program Alumni

A1.Participant Demographic and Interview Data

Preface

AMONG OTHER THINGS, this book argues that the paths individuals choose in their lives can be shaped by single, significant experiences—including, for some, participation in encounter programs that bring together Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Like the participants in programs implemented by the two organizations I focus on in this book, I have been shaped by salient experiences that led me to the writing of this book. And while as an academic I believe in engaging in research that lets data speak for itself, I would be remiss if I were not to acknowledge the importance of these experiences in shaping this book and its origins. Indeed, it is also as an academic that I feel it is important to acknowledge my identity and situate myself within this study, both for transparency and to help my readers understand the book’s origins and impetus.

Growing up as the child of an Israeli mother and American father, I lived to some degree on the New York–Tel Aviv line. Although I was raised primarily in the United States, my mother’s never-fading connection to Israel meant family trips back home every few years at least, plus summers in Israel and two full academic years there while in elementary and secondary school. These trips instilled in me a strong sense of connection to Israel. I remember reading Leon Uris’s Exodus as a teenager and wishing that I had been born in the wake of World War II so I could have been a halutza (pioneer) in the newly declared state.

As a teenager in the United States, my developing sense of the world opened my eyes to the economic, racial, and national diversity in the town where I lived. This raised questions for me about the lack of diversity to which I had been exposed while living in Israel: why was it, I queried, that in all the time I had spent there, I had never met or spoken with a Palestinian, Muslim or Christian? By the time I finished high school and started my undergraduate degree, I had developed an interest not only in the Zionist narrative but also in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict more broadly, and I chose to major in Middle Eastern studies as a university student.

Through four years of undergraduate study, I was lucky to learn from scholars who helped me develop a much broader—and ultimately, more critical—perspective on the State of Israel and the historical and political context in which it was established. I knew I wanted to return to Israel and took advantage of the opportunity to do so my junior year, signing up for a year of study at Tel Aviv University. Although I already had been interested in Jewish–Palestinian relations for several years, it was during this year that my practical introduction to the field of peacebuilding occurred. Shortly after arriving in Tel Aviv, I began volunteering with a small organization that brought together Jews and Palestinians, which at that time was only a few years into its programming. One day in November, I was asked, along with a fellow volunteer, to take part in a meeting with Palestinian counterparts in the West Bank. Before we knew it, we found ourselves in a taxi on the way to Nablus, scheduled to meet with a group of Palestinian university students. Late that night after we returned, I tried to capture snapshots of the visit in my journal: the experience of entering the home of a Palestinian woman (the mother of one of the students involved with this organization) who had never met an Israeli; the fear (and intense curiosity) accompanying our walk through Nablus with our Palestinian counterparts for a falafel (the most delicious falafel I have eaten, to this day); and reflections arising from the discussion I had heard. So much to think about, I wrote. And indeed, there was.

By this point my political perspective had shifted far to the left of what it had been only a few years before, but once I completed my university studies, I returned to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Despite my perspective on the situation in the Middle East, I felt that serving in the army would serve two purposes. First, given my desire at the time to remain in Israel indefinitely, I believed that serving in the IDF would provide me with a measure of legitimacy as a Jew living in Israeli society. Second, I thought in my naïveté that serving would provide me with street credibility in the Jewish community that would be helpful, especially when, after my service, I continued living in Israel and working in the field of peacebuilding and social change. Even with these thoughts in mind, however, I was not entirely comfortable with the thought of being part of the military. Thus, I sought to serve in what I felt were the least problematic positions from the perspective of the IDF’s actions toward Palestinians. Originally, I planned to serve as a medic—someone who would treat anyone who came my way, regardless of background. When this proved impossible, I took on the position of a Mashakit Chinuch: a soldier in charge of educational programs. In this position, I reasoned, I could in some small way create change from the inside, for example, by writing lesson plans on minority groups in Israel or on issues related to Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East.

Even in this position, though, I felt uncomfortable. I vividly remember one winter evening when I was stationed on the main base of one of the army’s infantry units. That night the IDF planned to enter Tul Karem, a city in the West Bank, and the base bustled with preparations. Before going to bed, I wrote in my journal,

What a night to retake a Palestinian town. I keep trying to think of what’s going to happen out there tonight. How many people are going to lose their lives? Who? How many? On what side? It is so bizarre to be (somewhat) on the inside [of the situation], and yet, to totally disagree with the operation set to take place. What purpose will it serve, if any? Needless death, destruction . . .

By then, my attempts to justify military service could no longer be reconciled with my beliefs about Israel’s policies and actions vis-à-vis Palestinians and, a few months later, I found a way to leave the military. Back in the United States, I continued to engage in dialogue and peacebuilding work with a focus on issues in Israel–Palestine, and soon thereafter I began graduate studies in the field of conflict resolution. As I continued in this field, the potential of peacebuilding programs to make a difference, especially programs that focused primarily on youth, remained an unanswered question. In the wake of the pessimism that followed the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 and the subsequent evaporation of funding for dialogue, it was impossible not to query the real value of this work. In the winter of 2004 I found myself, a first-year master’s student, telling one of my professors that I was interested in assessing the long-term impact of participation in Jewish–Palestinian peace education programs. With that, the first seeds of this book were planted.

In the years since 2004, through my master’s degree, doctoral studies, and ongoing academic and professional work in this field, the question of what difference grassroots peacebuilding interventions can make has been at the forefront of my mind. My thoughts on how to address the question have shifted, thanks to the guidance of formal and informal mentors, practitioners and academics alike. I have abandoned the notion of quantifying peace and its impact, as my spouse explained my research to everyone who asked during my first few years of graduate school. Instead, in this book, I highlight the personal narratives of former participants in encounter programs implemented by two organizations, drawing on the stories they have told me during long, unstructured interviews to illustrate both what it means for Jewish–Palestinian encounters to have an influence on participants, and what that influence looks like.

Doing the research for this book has made me all too aware of the complexities involved in trying to answer questions about program impact. I have learned how the sociopolitical context shapes the potential influence grassroots encounter organizations can have on shaping individuals, and how choices made about pedagogical approach are often calculated in light of trade-offs between breadth (reaching more participants) and depth (more strongly shaping those individuals they reach). I have come to realize that the work undertaken by encounter organizations, and other organizations engaged in joint Jewish–Palestinian peacebuilding, is a necessity and yet is also a constant struggle within Israel’s sociopolitical context. It has been a privilege to observe this work and to have had my eyes opened to its complexity and importance.

Overview of the Book

The following chapters address the overarching conceptual and methodological arguments of this book, as well as present my findings and their implications for intergroup encounters and peacebuilding more broadly. Chapter 1 sets the context, discussing the conflict between Jews and Palestinians since the founding of the State of Israel. I also discuss the use of intergroup encounters as a mechanism for peacebuilding, both conceptually and in the Israeli context specifically. In chapter 2, I examine what it means to engage in an analysis of program impact. I look at existing empirical literature on encounter programs between groups in conflict, providing background on how encounters have been explored and assessed. I also highlight conceptual frameworks drawn from other fields that I suggest are important for understanding the influence of encounter programs. I then discuss the framework for this study specifically.

The next four chapters form the core of the book, presenting empirical findings from my research. Chapter 3 includes my analysis of Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut’s pedagogical approaches and organizational structures. I use this chapter to highlight principles and ideologies at the core of the two organizations’ programs and to discuss how these ideologies intersect with—and can be limited by—structural issues and factors external to the organizations. My analysis reconstructs the theories of change held by staff and board members of each organization and illustrates how staff, board members, and alumni view the potential of organizational programs to influence participants. This analysis sets the stage for the subsequent chapters, which focus on the narratives of Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut alumni.

In chapter 4, I focus on the underlying worldviews and beliefs held by Sadaka Reut and Peace Child Israel alumni, with a particular emphasis on the possibility of social change in Israel. Drawing on narratives from alumni interviews, I illustrate the ways in which alumni believe social change might occur and how these beliefs were significantly shaped by their encounter participation and—in reaffirming and contradictory ways—by other personal and sociopolitical experiences. The chapter also reconstructs former participants’ beliefs regarding the role intergroup encounter programs can play in promoting social change in the Israeli context.

Chapter 5 continues this thread of analysis. I focus here on alumni beliefs regarding their own ability to help create change in Israeli society and how their motivations for doing so are linked to Sadaka Reut and Peace Child. I also discuss the activities in which alumni are engaged, again addressing the perceived role of Sadaka Reut and Peace Child Israel in motivating engagement, as well as the importance alumni attribute to factors external to the organizations, such as events in the sociopolitical context, in shaping their actions and worldviews.

In chapter 6, I engage with the question of ethnonational identity, exploring the ways that Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut alumni narratives correspond to and diverge from dominant narratives among Jews and Palestinians in Israel. This chapter points to important distinctions between the perspectives held by alumni of Peace Child and Sadaka Reut as well as between the identity claims of Jewish and Palestinian encounter alumni. It highlights the role of program participation, as juxtaposed with external experiences, in shaping the ethnonational identity claims of former participants in the organizations’ encounter programs.

Finally, chapter 7 summarizes the main findings of this study and highlights implications for the practice of implementing Jewish–Palestinian encounters and for academic scholarship in this field.

A Note on Language and Quotation Conventions

In line with Halai (2007), I retain in this text certain Hebrew terms that have no exact equivalent in English. These terms are transliterated and italicized in the text; in most cases I also provide a footnote the first time each of these terms appears to explain its significance in English as accurately as possible. My explanations, however, are not equivalent to translations of these terms because many of them are culturally bound phrases with significance in Hebrew that does not translate well to the English language or US context.

I also utilize the following conventions in interview excerpts found in the text: ellipses indicate a long pause in the participants’ speech, and bracketed ellipses indicate that the text has been shortened (by me)—that is, that material from the original transcript has been omitted to clean up the quotation while still retaining meaning. Bracketed text indicates that words or phrases have been added or changed by me to make the quotation clearer to readers.

Finally, I use pseudonyms when referring to individuals who participated in this study. However, in chapter 3, I do not refer to individuals by name or pseudonym (except when referring to facilitators whose sessions I observed or alumni interviewees), instead using phrases such as a staff member from Peace Child Israel or a former Sadaka Reut facilitator. I use these descriptions because the number of individuals affiliated with each of these organizations is relatively small, and some of the comments made to me in interviews might be interpreted in a negative light. Providing any identifying information could easily result in participants being identified by their supervisors or peers; to avoid this, I therefore refer to staff and board members in very general terms.

Acknowledgments

ALTHOUGH THIS BOOK has my name on the cover, the words contained within were written through collaboration with and mentorship from individuals around the world, and the book is as much theirs as it is mine. Above all, this is the case for Sadaka Reut and Peace Child Israel’s current and former staff, board members, and participants. Although I cannot credit them by name for the co-authorship they deserve, many appear in this book unnamed or via pseudonyms. I am grateful to staff from both organizations who received with interest my initial, germinating ideas about the research that is the focus of this book, and who were willing to help put me in touch with past participants as well as to patiently answer my questions and to let me observe their work. The life stories, experiences, and expertise shared by these staff members, by former participants, and by former and current board members are the core of this book. To every one of you: many, many thanks.

Beyond individuals in these two organizations, the work of numerous peacebuilders and scholars in Israel and the United States inspired, informed, helped refine my ideas, and made this book possible. In particular, Zvi Bekerman and Helena Desivilia’s help in navigating various bureaucracies enabled this project to get off the ground. The journeys that informed this book also could not have been undertaken without institutional and financial support that I received as a graduate student at Indiana University and then as a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The bulk of this book is based on my doctoral research, support for which came in the form of grants from the US Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad programs; the Palestinian American Research Council; the Indiana University Inquiry Methodology Richard C. Pugh Research Methodology Fellowship program; and the Indiana University School of Education Achasa Beechler Dissertation Fellowship program. My analysis was refined during subsequent research undertaken with help from the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Foundation and from the University of Massachusetts Boston Joseph P. Healey Research Grant program.

For their guidance and insight, I am indebted to Bradley Levinson, Phil Carspecken, Ginette Delandshere, Peg Sutton, and Barbara Dennis at Indiana University, and I owe a special thank you to Eileen Babbitt for the many ways she engaged and enabled my work over the past decade. Faculty and staff colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Boston have been enormously helpful in every way imaginable. I owe a debt of thanks to the many colleagues and friends who read portions of the manuscript, pushed my analyses deeper, and contributed to this endeavor in other ways, among them: Gabi Berlinger, Katie Bucher, Cara Carter, Carolina Casas, Dustin Cantrell, Tal Eidelman, Shai Fuxman, Michelle Gawerc, Ned Lazarus, Amy Kapit, Liz Knauer, Naomi Moland, Oren Pizmony-Levy, Na’amah Razon, Payal Shah, Brooke Treadwell, Rachel Wahl, and Fiona Wright. I am also grateful for the help of Suzanne Guiod, Mona Hamlin, Sara Cleary, and Kelly Balenske at Syracuse University Press for seeing this book into print and getting it into the hands of those reading it.

I owe the greatest thanks to my family. My parents, Nechama and Bill Ross, have always provided unwavering support and encouragement for all my endeavors. Noam Ross, Jon Ross, Varda Lasser, and Renana Ben-Bassat cheered me on and provided support and feedback in ways big and small. Neil, Alon, and Sonya Pederson patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) endured the time I spent with this book instead of with them. You keep me grounded every day. Guess what? I love you.

1

Context, Encounters, and the Question of Impact

IN THE FALL OF 2011, Peace Child Israel shut its doors. Having operated continuously since 1988, its closing ended the long trajectory of one of Israel’s veteran Jewish–Palestinian¹ encounter organizations. In the months preceding its closure, as I spent time with participants and alumni of the organization as well as with those of Sadaka Reut, another organization promoting Jewish–Palestinian partnership, the possibility of closing had come to