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Peace Education Between Theory and Practice: The Israeli Case

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A Social Psychology Perspective on The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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Abstract

The present chapter deals with the role of peace education in transforming the sociopsychological infrastructure of intractable conflict to promote peace building and, more importantly, with the question of whether and how it can be applied in societies that are still involved in a conflict. The chapter describes, first, the goals and the challenges of peace education in societies engaged in a protracted, violent conflict. Then, it presents the two models suggested by Bar-Tal et al. (Handbook of peace education, 2010) of direct and indirect peace education. Specifically, it examines how the main themes offered by these two categories of peace education were reflected in Israel’s state education policies in light of political and social developments that took place over the years. Finally, the last part of the chapter attempts to provide possible explanations as to why, despite the potential possibilities in theory, Israel has failed to implement a consistent framework of peace education as a process aimed at changing students’ consciousness to advance the end of the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Soli Vered

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  1. Soli Vered
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Correspondence to Soli Vered .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel

    Keren Sharvit

  2. Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Psychology, Herzilya, Israel

    Eran Halperin

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Vered, S. (2016). Peace Education Between Theory and Practice: The Israeli Case. In: Sharvit, K., Halperin, E. (eds) A Social Psychology Perspective on The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24841-7_13

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