Experiencing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Children, Peace Communication and Socialization

Explores 'peace communication' among children in Israel-Palestine to assess structural outcomes for peace, and illuminate causes for conflict intractability.

Yael Warshel (Author)

9781108724470, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 August 2022

505 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.671 kg

'Yael Warshel's scholarly contribution cannot be mistaken.' 'This book provides a model for researchers who want to tackle important issues through applied methods. The author provides a guide for future PeaceComm studies by carefully describing the actions taken by herself, the choices made by producers and viewers, and lessons learned.' 'Studying conflict interventions provides valuable lessons for current/future conflicts …' 'The application spans several years, borders, and methods.' 'This book deserves recognition as among the best the National Communication Association's Applied Communication Division has produced.' 'This is a fascinating book.' 'This unflinching, carefully detailed study shows great intentions and expense yielding none of three intended effects because the viewers … were grounded in the reality of the Palestinian/Israeli separation. The 'two street solution' meant to bring characters on [Palestinian and Israeli] Sesame Street together were unconvincing.' 'I can't think of a more well researched book that details a spectacular failure.' Judging Panel, Sue DeWine Distinguished Scholarly Book Award

Over the last eighty years there has been a global rise in 'peace communication' practice, the use of interpersonal and mass communication interventions to mediate between peoples engaged in political conflict. In this study, Yael Warshel assesses Israeli and Palestinian versions of Sesame Street, which targeted negative inter-group attitudes and stereotypes. Merging communication, peace and conflict studies, social psychology, anthropology, political science, education, Middle Eastern and childhood studies, this book provides a template to think about how audiences receive, interpret, use and are influenced by peace communication. By picking apart the text and subtext of the kind of media these specific audiences of children consume, Warshel examines how they interpret peace communication interventions, are socialized into Palestinians, Jewish Israelis and Arab/Palestinian Israelis, the political opinions they express and the violence they reproduce. She questions whether peace communication practices have any relevant structural impact on their audiences, critiques such interventions and offers recommendations for improving future communication interventions into political conflict worldwide.

Introduction: Peace communication and why study Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street's media intervention model?
Part I. The Production and Encoding of Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street: Introduction to Part I: Production and encoding methodologies
1. The Israeli-Palestinian ethno-political nationalist conflict, the Arab-Israeli multi-state conflict and Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street's disengagement with these conflicts
2. The modern world, or interstate, system
3. The encoding process for seasons one and two of Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street
Part II.  Audience Reception of Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street: Introduction to Part II: Audience reception methodologies
4. Decodings by Palestinians-in-the-Making
5. Decodings by Jewish Israelis-in-the-Making
6. Decodings by Arab/Palestinian Israelis-in-the-Making
Conclusion to Part II: The utility of the series for all three partners to the conflict?
Part III. Situating the Reception of Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street in Mundane Intractable Conflict Zone Practices: Introduction to Part III: Context analyses and conflict zones methodologies
7. Pursuing justice: Palestinian children's schematic interpretations of the Israeli army
8. Pursuing security: Jewish Israeli children's schematic interpretations of Palestinian day laborers
9. Pursuing equality: Arab/Palestinian Israeli Children's schematic interpretations of constructs of opposing national and civic identities
Part IV. Conclusions and Recommendations to Improve Peace Communication research, (Evidence-based) Practice, and Conflict Intractability Interpretation: Introduction: The best case
10. Lessons learned and their application to peace communication research, (evidenced-based) practice, and conflict intractability interpretation
11. How to improve potential media effects and impacts–recommendations for peace communication practitioners
12. Follow-up study of tween-age former audience members.

Subject Areas: Middle Eastern history [HBJF1], Asian history [HBJF], General & world history [HBG], History [HB], Humanities [H]