palestine, israel, who, organizational culture, and peace
TRANSCRIPT
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RUNNING HEAD: Equitable Spaces
Equitable Spaces: Can a Co-Cultural Perspective
Redefine the Palestinian / Israeli Conflict?
Jack Turner George Mason University
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Equitable Spaces: Can a Co-Cultural Perspective
Redefine the Palestinian / Israeli Conflict?
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to use Orbes co-cultural theory and related inter-
cultural communication theories to examine the discourse and communication relationship
between the Palestinian and Israeli cultures. I use co-cultural theory along to examine the
communicative relationships involved in the hostile cultural environment created between
these groups. I then propose that incorporating the values, beliefs, and communication
channels common to public health agency cultures may help create an equitable space for communicating peace between Palestinians and Israelis. This exploration of a co-cultural
framework for conflict resolution may offer additional tools to political negotiation
methods used in the past.
First I will practice some self-reflexivity concerning communication research and
personal experiences to identify my standpoint regarding the Palestinian / Israeli conflict. I
will then discuss the organizational culture endemic to public health organizations like the
World Health Organization (WHO) and how this cultures values and beliefs may
contribute to constructively redefine the communication relationship between Palestinians
and Israelis. I will present some of the history shared by Palestinians and Israelis and offer
examples of various personal experiences from both sides of their conflict. Finally, I will
discuss the opportunities and implications of using the theories of co-cultural and
organizational culture communication as a framework for peace negotiations.
Previously, I have been comfortable with an objective, quantifiable research
method in regard to communication research. I developed and administered a health
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communication experiment for my Senior Capstone Project last year that required Human
Subject Review Board (HSRB) authorization and 120 undergraduate participants. The
experiment measured participants responses to a manipulation in a health promotion
message. The experiment was based on quantifiable methods and used SPSS (Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences) software to translate the resulting data into ANOVA
statistics. I had no personal interaction with participants beyond explaining the actions
required for the experiment and administering the forms necessary for human rights
protections.
I am now interested in taking a broader, more qualitative perspective and usingOrbes co-cultural communication theory to organize a research study into the cultural and
communication conflicts demonstrated by the Palestinian / Israeli. In doing so, I will
interact more with the research process than I have in the past, and my personal
exploration, discovery, and standpoint will be part of the process. Personal disclosure and
transparency will be a necessary part of the co-cultural model, and this will be an entirely
new research behavior for me. I am not yet certain that I will prefer this method to others.
An important part of this research process is my attempt to understand the hostile
nature of the Palestinian / Israeli relationship. My opinion in the past has been more
supportive of Israel while I winced at the media accounts of violence they have inflicted on
many innocent Palestinian civilians and their families. I became more sympathetic to the
Palestinian peoples perspective after reading personal accounts from peace activists and
Palestinians. At the same time, I have been shocked and angered by the support of terrorist
acts, particularly suicide bombings, and the martyr worship of suicide bombers encouraged
within the Palestinian culture.
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My Standpoint: Identification and Growth
My personal interest in the conflict came about through family and friends. Many
years ago, my kind and generous mother openly expressed her support for the Israeli
people and anything they had to do to maintain their steadfast hold on territory. She would
say things like, Well, if they have to kill a lot of Palestinians, its Gods will. The Israelites
are Gods chosen people. One particular evening, my mother expressed her open support
for Israel in the presence of a Lebanese man at a dinner party they were attending. He
gave her an ear full about Israel that gave her a lot to think about, my father said with an
ironic chuckle.A Jewish couple has been close to my wife and I for over twenty years. Since one
of them has had siblings living in Israel for about the same time, we have often discussed
her familys well being in Israel. For example, when Iraq was launching Scud missiles into
Israel during the first Gulf War in Kuwait, our friend told us there was a fifty-foot deep
crater near her sisters residence. It happened while she was away from home. She saw
the crater and heard the stories about it from her neighbors when she came back, she said.
Hearing about attacks in Israel on the news is one thing, but being personally connected to
it, even vicariously through a friend, is an entirely more frightening experience.
An important influence for my continuing curiosity about the situation in Israel was
the chance meeting of two Israeli brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where I was
vacationing with my family. The older brother of the two told me an insightful story about
his personal experience in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). This is what he said:
We were sometimes called on to do house to house searches in Palestinian
neighborhoods in the middle of the night. One time we were told that explosives
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were being stored on a certain street, so we went down there and pulled families out
of their homes at rifle point at two oclock in the morning. Most of the people my
team dealt with looked pretty scared, and I dont think any of us were very proud of
what we were doing. But then later on a friend of mine on another search team said
they found the explosives in a home two blocks down the street from my teams
location. So you see, it is difficult.
RATIONALE
I am looking for a communication perspective and method that can help create an
equitable environment for voices on both dominant and non-dominant sides of a culturalconflict. The ideas presented here use contributions from co-cultural communication
theory and organizational culture research in a study of the Palestinian / Israeli conflict.
My primary purpose is to see if this combination offers anything new and useful to the
study of cultural domination and discourse, power influences related to inter-cultural
communication and the peace negotiation process between cultures.
Orbes co-cultural communication theory deals with communication strategies
employed by members of a non-dominant culture in relation to members of a dominant
culture from the perspective of those without power and voice. He includes examples of
life experiences from African-Americans, Hispanics, gay people, and women in the U.S. to
explicate the communication relationships they have developed to keep their voices and
identities from being muted by a dominant white male culture. Non-dominant co cultures
are described as under-represented groups who must struggle to be heard and seen within
the context and communication processes of a dominant culture. (Orbe, 1998)
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I will take Orbes concept of adaptation of non-dominant cultures communication
practices to dominant cultures and demonstrate its usefulness in viewing the power
relationship endemic to Palestinian / Israeli communication. Even though the conflict gets
plenty of media coverage, the Israelis still maintain power and control over public
discourse within their borders. For example, many places with Arabic names familiar to
generations of Palestinians have been re-named by the Israeli government with Hebrew
names. This communicates new ownership, territorial rights, and power. For the
Palestinians, it symbolizes another aspect of losing territory, and a challenge to their
cultural identity by taking power over their connection to place and ethnic history (Peteet,J, 2005). Orbes theory suggests that members of the dominant Israeli culture would be
prevented from seeing this by the blind gaze of power and privilege typical to dominant
culture (1998, p.3).
Dozens of Israeli and Palestinian peace groups, listed on websites like the Middle
East Dialog and Peace Organizations and Political Parties demonstrate peaceful intentions
and attitudes between Palestinians and Israelis, often in opposition to the Israeli
government and Israeli Defense Forces. Connecting all of the smaller, individual peace
groups together into a broader coalition with more political power may be one way that the
organizational culture of public health programs could positively influence the peace
process. This perhaps one of the opportunities that co-cultural theory could open up for
inter-cultural conflict resolution.
Organizational Culture and Healthy Communication
Public health agencies like WHO bring a unique organizational cultural that
embraces communication and cooperation across disciplines, government organizations,
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and local communities. They are based in, and depend on, the assistance and cooperation
of the communities they serve. In the public health point of view, community groups and
organizations are equal partners working toward solving problems. The CDC and its
cooperating partners are driven by one primary goal: primary prevention of public heath
threats, preferably before they are out of control (Hammond et al, 2006).
Hammond et al say public health agencies follow a four step approach: 1.define
the problem, 2. identify risk and protective factors, 3. develop and test prevention
strategies, and 4. assure widespread adoption of prevention principles and strategies.
(2006). This approach also includes a working philosophy in which a methods successfulresults against a health problem, and not the methods ideology or political appeal,
determine if that method is used.
Ideally, the public health approach could encourage a respectful, equitable flow of
communication between hostile parties such as Israel and Palestine, and it would focus
only on what proved to be constructive. Figure 1 on page 14 demonstrates a possible
communication flow and the relationships WHO could utilize with Israel and Palestine. It
shows the characteristics which could enable WHO to facilitate constructive
communication between Israel and the Palestinians. It also shows shared values and
experiences between Israelis and Palestinians compared to conflict issues that contribute to
their hostile relationship.
While the organizational culture of WHO would openly promote respectful and
constructive vertical and lateral communication flow (bottom to top, sideways intra-agency
and inter-agency), it is the acknowledged power from Israel that might be the deciding
factor in peace negotiations (OHair, ORourke, & OHair 2001). A respectful flow of
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communication between Palestinians and WHO might result from the health care provider
and emergency / crisis management relationship for which WHO is known and respected
(WHO, 2005)
Some Standpoints from Both Sides
Alice Rothchild, a Jewish American activist, describes her experience with the
physical barriers which now separate Palestinians and Israelis:
As we traveled through the West Bank, every day we encountered some of the
over 700 physical barriers or obstructions that make up the system of checkpoints.
These range from highly militarized terminals and guard towers to piles of dirt,
ditches or stones. We joined Palestinians who spent hours waiting for permission
from Israeli soldiers to cross from one town in the West Bank to the next. In
contrast, Israelis travel through the West Bank on bypass roads which are modern
unobstructed highways, linking the many Jewish settlements on the West Bank withIsrael. (2007).
These obstructions and physical barriers are mirrors of the power and control
Israel is privileged to have and they also directly reflect the acute distance that the Israeli
government is determined to put between its people and the Palestinians.
Rothchild travels with a Palestinian friend named Seema. She relates her friends
humiliating experience with Israeli security :
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Seema went with a Palestinian medical student, ST, to pray at the Haramal-Sharif,
Noble Sanctuary, (or Temple Mount), in East Jerusalem, the third holiest site for
Muslims. Here is the Dome of the Rock, an important Islamic shrine at the
Sanctuary. At the checkpoint to the Mosque, the Israeli police were abusive and
humiliating towards Seema and she later recounted how painful as well as enraging
that experience felt, contrasted against the exquisite beauty and spirituality of the
religious site.
My literature review on Palestinian life experiences quickly found many personal accounts
similar to Seemas. I do not think there is any doubt about who controls most of the
territory in and around Israel, and the power of the dominant culture is easily perceived
with anger by Palestinians.
David Grossman, an Israeli writer and peace activist, has written accounts of his
personal experiences taken from his journals, which he wrote at the time of hisexperiences. He says First I remember the noise of the gunfire, heavy machine guns, and
explosions as he describes the frightening noise he cannot ignore coming from a battle
between Palestinian militia groups and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Grossman says at
the height of suicide bombings during 2002, Everyone I knew, friends and relatives,
would call me whenever another suicide bomber blew himself up. The phone would start
ringing as soon as the report was on television and the radio. We had to find out if anybody
in the family took the bus that was blown up that day. Grossman says he knows that
Palestinians have many of the same fears that Israelis have, and asks, Why must we fear
violence from each other so much?
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Palestinians and Israelis started a continuing war in 1948, when the United Nations
granted the right for Jews to establish their own state in what was formally known as
Palestine and Transjordan. Palestinian fighters tried to force the transplanted Jews and
native Israelis from what had been their land, but the lands new rulers fought back with
courage and determination, sometimes with Nazi death camp tattoos visible on their wrists.
After loosing millions of their people in the Holocaust, these survivors fearlessly pursued a
Jewish homeland where they could protect their own borders against annihilation. (cite)
Palestinians call the events leading up to Israels victory as a l nekbah, or the
catastrophe, while Israelis call 1948 the year of independence. The difference in words
the winner and the loser, the dominant and non-dominant, the powerful and powerless, the
privileged and the under-privileged. Peteet says that Israelis have re-named many places
known for generations by Arabic names to Palestinians. Peteet states that re-naming places
assumes ownership and power over those places, and also acts destroys the collective
(2005).Conclusion
WHO may have more influence with dominant Israeli culture through a mutual
recognition of political and organizational power and show more respect to non-dominant
Palestinian culture. In this way, an empathetic communication channel may be established
in a different, creative way unexplored in the past. Israeli government culture may identify
with the power and size of the WHO organization, while Palestinians and their government
may be influenced by the helping hand of health care providers . This not some kind of
cure-all for the troubles, but an additional communication channel and supplementary tool
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for influencing exploration of commonalities, providing a space for listening, and seeing
the others perspective.
When the subject of peace in the Middle East comes up in casual conversation, I
have often been told that Theres no hope for peace over there. Those people have been
fighting for thousands of years. They dont want peace. They have that Holy War and
martyrdom thing going on. In my mind, nothing in human nature is that simple, and the
idea that people prefer violence and hostility instead of a fulfilling, peaceful existence is
abhorrent.
Using co-cultural and organizational culture theory as a lens may reveal previouslyunexplored spaces for communicating commonality and shared experiences among
cultures in serious conflict with one another. More constructive and holistic
communication terms, enhanced by mindfulness and respect for the perceived Other,
may result from a co-cultural perspective. I would like to pursue this combination of
theories along with having an exploratory life experience with co-researchers. I believe it
may contribute to co-cultural research and provide a starting point for future endeavors.
The weaknesses I see in this research approach are in getting too close to the
research participants and emotionally choosing sides in a hostile, dangerous cultural
conflict. Also, Palestinians and Israeli participants in such an exercise must be convinced
to provide self-disclosure and be self-reflexive for the model to work. Trust, therefore, may
be the most precarious element in the success of this kind of study.
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ReferencesBehar, DM (2004). Contrasting patterns of Y chromosome variation in Ashkenazi Jewish
and host non-Jewish European populations. Human Genetics . Mar; 114(4):354-65.
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Grossman,D (2003). Death as a Way of Life: Israel Ten Years After OsloFarrar, Straus and Giroux. New York.Hammond, R., Whitaker, D., Lutzker, J., Mercy, J., Chin, P. (2006). Setting a
violence prevention agenda at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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OHair, ORourke, & OHair (2001). Business Communication : A Framework for
Success. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western.
Orbe, M P. (1998). Constructing Co-Cultural Theory: An Explication of Culture, Power,
and Communication. SAGE Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Orbe, P M, Spellers, R E (2005). From the margins to the center: Utilizing co-cultural
theory in diverse contexts. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication ,
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Peteet, J (2005). Words as interventions: Naming in the Palestine: Israel Conflict. Third
World Quarterly , 26.1, 153-172.
Rothchild, A (2007). Checkpoints: Crossing the Line. Broken Promises, Broken Dreams:
Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience. Pluto Press. , London,
Retrieved from website April 18, 2009. http://alicerothchild.com/?page_id=64
Sagy, S, Orr, E, Bar-on, D, Awwad, E (2001). Individualism and collectivism in two
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Shared: Land, Sense of Loss, Fear of Violence from the Other, History, Collectivist Culture, Martyrdom, Foods.
Foundation of Foundation of Communication Roles Communication Roles
ISRAEL Acknowledged WORLD HEALTH Acknowledged PALESTINE Power ORGANIZATION Respect
Government Organizational Culture: Government(s)Defense Forces Respectful, Interdependent CommunitiesHealth Care Agencies Partnerships. Health CareDiplomats Diplomatic Experience. Providers.Media International Cooperation. Media
Multi-national.Multi-Cultural.Inter-Cultural Communication.Emergency and Crisis Management.Community-Based Health Care.
ISRAEL PALESTINE
Conflict: Ownership, Power Differential, Domination of Land,Religious Beliefs, Language, Growing Individualist Culture,
Deaths from Warfare and Terrorism.
FIG. 1 Turner, J. 04/2009