This study examined how the film industry, Israeli and Palestinian in particular, can be used to promote intergroup dialogue and foster peace in the context of the long-lasting intractable conflict...Show moreThis study examined how the film industry, Israeli and Palestinian in particular, can be used to promote intergroup dialogue and foster peace in the context of the long-lasting intractable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. I focused on content analysis of two films, one produced by Israeli and the other by Palestinian filmmakers. The reason for choosing these films is that both films were released after the Oslo Accords during a dynamic period. The analysis is based on the way each group represented each other, whether they encourage intergroup dialogue within the films, and what their view was on the ongoing peace negotiations. These questions paved the way for answering the question of whether the film industry can promote peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The analysis was grounded on Gordon Allport’s concept of Contact Hypothesis – further advanced by Ilfaz Maoz – which designates that intergroup contact can be effective in reducing negative stereotypes between groups in conflict and mutual prejudices. My findings reveal that the Israeli film contributed to creating one of the necessary conditions to reach peace. Although, the Palestinian focus is still on forming a national identity and longing for the past. This investigation adds to our understanding that film industries can serve as a platform that can provoke dialogue and contact among conflicting groups. Nevertheless, Israeli and Palestinian films released within the Oslo Process failed in choosing for this opportunity. Based on these examples, it is possible to conclude that changing conflict-driven narratives and stereotypes of the Other is a major challenge that societies face if they are willing to work towards peacemaking.Show less
This thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its...Show moreThis thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its most prominent years in government between 1980 and 2010. By analyzing primary source material in the form of personal statements from key CDA members, election programs and official party documentation, it focusses on two aspects of the CDA’s identity: (1) its membership of a family of Christian democratic parties, whose political identity is based on an explicit appeal to Christian values in general; and (2) its primary objective of both “nationally and internationally appealing to the responsibility of the strong to show solidarity with the weak” as laid out in the party’s Statement of Principles in 1980. This thesis concludes that the CDA, throughout its years in government, has been gradually drifting away from these aspects of its Christian democratic identity, because of (1) the CDA’s core principle of solidarity being originally inspired by Catholic social doctrine, (2) the Israel-Palestine conflict having been an internally dividing topic ever since the start of the CDA, and (3) the increasing support of the secular vote having made the party’s successes possible in the first place. This combination of factors has often made room for circumstances in which not always the content of the party’s foundational Statement of Principles was of the utmost priority. Moreover, it has often resulted in a negligence of the protection of those Christian values and traditions in places where Christian solidarity was actually needed the most. While this research gives an interesting insight into the CDA’s developing understanding of solidarity towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, future research on the connection between Christian democratic politics and threatened Christian communities in the rest of the world might be a welcome addition to the discussion.Show less
