PSYCHOLOGICAL DYNAMICS OF INTRACTABLE ETHNONATIONAL CONFLICTS - THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CASE

In this article, the authors use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a n example of ostensibly intractable ethnonational conflict and examine the psychological dynamics that contribute to its intractability. The y review the unique characteristics of this conflict and the clash of narratives. They argue that some ethnonational conflicts have characte ristics that increase their resistance to change and that societies in such conflicts form societal beliefs that, on the one hand help them cope with the stressful conditions of the conflicts but, on the other hand, perpetuate the conflicts. Finally, they discuss some social psyc hological contributions to changing societal beliefs as a way of inter vening in such conflicts.