Three highly divisive forces at play globally in the first decade of the twenty-first century are nationalism, ethnicity, and religion. Problems associated with these forces are exacerbated where religion, ethnicity, and nationalism interact. The longer such problems simmer, the more intractable they appear to become (Kurth, 2001). One such case involves the decades-long dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East, where the Israelis and the Palestinians have been attempting to coexist (at times with more success than at other times) on the same land for centuries (Binder, 1999).
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been the focus of intensive negotiations for more than three decades. The objectives of all of the negotiations have been to find a solution acceptable to both the Israelis and the Palestinians. In spite of many promising efforts, such a solution has thus far eluded all of the negotiators (Gazit & Abington, 2001).
The Palestinian Intifada began about four years ago, when the current Israeli Prime Minister (then simply a minister in the Israeli government of the day) purposefully committed an act in Jerusalem that was designed to gain the support of conservative Israelis, and which was just as certain to draw the ire of Palestinians. Mr. Sharon was successful on both counts, and over the past two years, successive and seemingly unending actions and counter actions by both Israelis and Palestinians cause the conflict to be in one of its hotter phases (Amaud, 2003).
Palestinians contend that the Intifada is a response to Israeli aggression and repression, while the Israelis contend that military actions by the Israeli Defense Force are in response to Palestinian terrorist acts. Both sides are right and both sides are wrong; however unlikely it is that either side will ever recognize that the other side also has legitimate grievances. When two parties strongly disagree with one another to...