We also studied the international conflict over Jerusalem, which was particularly current as we traveled there just a few days after President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. We learned from peace negotiators for Israel who are engaged in Track II negotiations (which set the parameters for more substantive peace talks) that the geopolitical and religious complexities of Jerusalem make a two-state solution virtually impossible to implement. I also observed that one barrier to resolving the conflict is the internal strife in Israeli society: internal conflict between ultra-religious and secular Israeli Jews has intensified over the past decade and has severely polarized the country. The most important lesson I learned is a lesson I teach my dispute resolution students every semester: the importance of recognizing a party’s underlying interests before a conflict resolution strategy can truly succeed. In Israel, all parties must recognize the existential nature of the conflict: that the road to peace in the land of Israel will not stem from a framework of “land for peace,” or a real estate transaction, but from a fundamental recognition that the people in Israel, both Arabs and Jews, have deep connections to the land, historically, religiously and culturally. Fundamentally, this is a conflict over identity, not land. Despite grassroots organizations such as Givat Haviva, which engages divided communities in collective action, and Shorashim (“Roots”), which tries to normalize daily contact between Israelis and Palestinians, we saw that daily interactions between Israelis and Palestinians are rare, and fraught with peril. We also saw firsthand the role of fear. As one Palestinian whose family has feared persecution and experienced violence astutely observed: “There are a lot of asymmetries in this conflict; fear is not one of them.” To read more about my experiences in Israel, visit the ADR Prof Blog, Indisputably.org, and click through to posts from December 2017. Perhaps our wonderful tour guide, Mike Rogoff, best summed it up when he stated: “If you are on a mission from God, compromise is not in your vocabulary.” n
Scenes from Israel: Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee from a kibbutz near the Golan Heights, “Love” in the Sculpture Garden of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and Professor Gross at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
SPRING 2018
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