Personal narratives of genocide and intractable war can provide valuable insights around notions of collective identity, perceptions of the 'enemy,' intergenerational coping with massive social trauma, and sustainable peace and reconciliation. Written in an accessible and narrative style, this book demonstrates how the sharing of and listening to personal experiences deepens understandings of the long-term psychosocial impacts of genocide and war on direct victims and their descendants in general, and of the Holocaust and the Jewish–Arab/Palestinian–Israeli context, in particular. It provides a new theoretical model concerning the relationship between different kinds of personal narratives of genocide and war and peacebuilding or peace obstruction. Through its presentation and analysis of personal narratives connected to the Holocaust and the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, it provides a deep exploration into how such narratives have the potential to promote peace and offers concrete ideas for further research of the topic and for peacebuilding on the ground.
Preface; 1. Personal Narratives in the Context of Genocide and War; 2. Collective Identity, Perceptions of the Enemy, and Personal Narratives; 3. Coping, or Not, with Genocide and War; 4. Conceptualizations of Positive Peace and Reconciliation; 5. Personal Narratives of Genocide and War and Their Connections to Peacebuilding or Peace Obstruction: Our Theoretical Model; 6. Personal Narratives connected to the Holocaust; 7. Personal Narratives in the Jewish-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Contexts; 8. Personal Narratives in the Jewish-Jewish Conflict Context; 9. Personal Narratives of Genocide and Intractable War: Research Implications; 10. Personal Narratives of Genocide and Intractable War: Concrete Ideas for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation; References; Index.
Julia Chaitin is Professor Emerita at Sapir College and a dedicated peace activist. Her notable publications include Peace Building in Israel and Palestine (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and Routine Emergency: The Meaning of Life for Israelis Living along the Gaza Border (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, with Steinberg, Avlagon, and Steinberg). Elad Avlagon is a social worker and independent researcher. His notable publications include Routine Emergency: The Meaning of Life for Israelis Living along the Gaza Border (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, with Chaitin, Steinberg, and Steinberg).
