Journal #2

            When asked to explain my own ideas for the future Arab-Israeli negotiations I immediately felt a sense of panic. When the Prime Minister Rabin attended a peace rally in Tel Aviv in 1995 he was assassinated.  The extent of this issue was clear to me and I questioned how I was supposed to devise a plan for issue had been so persistent throughout time. I decided to approach this task by reviewing the background of the conflict and developing an understanding of the ideas that have already been proposed and why they were argued for and against.

            After reviewing many different peace negotiations that have existed throughout history, I found the Lieberman plan extremely feasible and thought that it was viable to meet the goals of both Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli political party leader Avigdor Lieberman proposed this plan in 2004.  The main point of this plan is an exchange of territory by both Arabs and Jews between Israel and Palestinian Authority.  This exchange would not cause the forcible removal of either side.  Instead, the Palestinian and Israeli communities are redrawn; Palestinian communities are included in Palestinian territory, and Jewish territories are included in Israel.  The idea is to have the 2 populations live together but not inside on another. I found this plan extremely interesting because it creates 2 homogeneous states. I am under the impression that Israelis and Palestinians have separate political goals and leadership, and believe the most efficient way to deal with this is to have a 2 separate states.  I establishing 2 states without removing people from their homes will be an effective way to help both Palestinians and Israelis obtain their objectives while maintaining a sense of harmony. 

However, after exploring many of the negotiations I came to the realization that there must be a deeper problem.  Many very logical plans have been proposed however there has never been any change implemented.   As I pondered what the underlying problem was, I came to the realization that the manner of how the public engages and reacts to the conflict and talks of peace must be a major reason why it has persisted throughout time.  I serve as direct evidence of this.  As I mentioned earlier, when I read over this assignment I was immediately nervous.  I think it is safe to assume that I am not the only class member or individual who is anxious when involved in discussions about the conflict.  Therefore I propose that the first step to making any headway regarding Israeli-Palestinian negotiation lies right here.  The overall attitude regarding the issue must change. Doubt and uncertainty are contagious; if the public holds the opinion that it is a permanent issue I think it is highly likely that it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy and will in fact be an enduring conflict.  However, I realize that it is not easy to change the public opinion.  I began to question if it is even possible to change public opinion and decided to do a little research.  I came across Daniel Yankelovich’s 7 distinct stages of changing public opinion.  Yankelovich is an author, public opinion analyst, and co-founder of public agenda. He has proposed, “Public pinion is not static.  People’s views about an issue can develop and change over time from disconnected, poorly informed reactions, to more thoughtful and considered conclusions” His 7 stages include:

1. Dawning Awareness
2. Greater Urgency
3. Reaching for Solutions
4. Wishful Thinking
5. Weighing the Choices
6. Taking a stand intellectually
7. Making a responsible judgement morally and emotionally

These stages can be further explained here: http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/seven-stages-public-opinion.  While I don’t want to spend too much time discussing this research, it has given me a sense of optimism that in the future the Palestinian and Israeli population will hold a more confident attitude that the conflict will be resolved.  If the perception that coexistence without violence and conflict is preached, taught, studied, etc. I feel that it is the first step to it becoming a reality.