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The Effect of Nonviolent Palestinian Protests on Israeli Perceptions of the Conflict

February 21, 2013 by intern3

Nichole Argo, Postdoctoral Fellow in Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
February 21, 2013

We surveyed Israelis in June 2012 to see how reminders of these nonviolent protests affected their perceptions of Palestinians, prospects for peace, their own sacred values, and more generally, their belief that groups can change. To our surprise, reminders of the protests led to negative assessments across all of these measures—more so than did reminders of Palestinian violence, or even stories of traffic woes.

This presentation focuses on the results of the survey, as well as what it may tell us about the process by which nonviolent campaigns affect intergroup psychology and transformation, particularly where there is a history (or competing strain) of violence.

Abstract

Nonviolent protest and campaigning is meant to delegitimize the adversary’s use of force, in particular because of it’s ability to captivate greater public support than a military campaign might. In part, this is a psychological transformation: for individuals, politics is reconceived as a moral issue, and for previously adversarial groups, perceptions and identities are redrawn. Most recently, the world has witnessed such transformations with the Arab Spring.

Therefore, many have asked, why don’t we see more nonviolent protest in the Palestinian Territories? In fact, Palestinians in places like Budrus and Bi’ilin have embraced a rigorous nonviolent campaign, and have even achieved some political gains. While these protests have not garnered massive media attention within Israeli society, most Israelis are aware of them. Thus, one major question is: How have they affected Israelis?

We surveyed Israelis in June 2012 to see how reminders of these nonviolent protests affected their perceptions of Palestinians, prospects for peace, their own sacred values, and more generally, their belief that groups can change. To our surprise, reminders of the protests led to negative assessments across all of these measures—more so than did reminders of Palestinian violence, or even stories of traffic woes.

This presentation focuses on the results of the survey, as well as what it may tell us about the process by which nonviolent campaigns affect intergroup psychology and transformation, particularly where there is a history (or competing strain) of violence.

Additional Resources

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Filed Under: Webinar 2013, Webinars

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