The Use of Palestinian Children in the Al-Aqsa Intifada
Watching the television coverage of the daily Palestinian riots, known as the Al-Aqsa intifada, one is immediately struck by the near total absence of adults. Indeed, most of those hurling Molotov cocktails and stones are teenagers; many are even younger.
Living with Normative Duality: The Values at the End of the Tunnel
Israeli society draws its values primarily from two civilizations: traditional Jewish culture and Western liberal culture. Therefore, many Israelis live in a cultural duality that sometimes expresses itself in a normative duality: halakhah and Israeli law are part of the primary and unconditional commitment of many Israelis.
Bar-Ilan Street: The Conflict and How We Tried to Solve It
Cross-Cultural Issues in Community Mediation: Perspectives for Israel
Given the recent growth in the community mediation movement in Israel, this article explores cross-cultural issues that need to be considered by mediators, program developers, and academics. Using examples from a conflict between orthodox and secular Jews, this article analyzes culturally biased assumptions of a mainstream model of mediation: impartiality, linear and rational problem solving, separating people from the problem, equal bargaining power, and using objective standards.
Reconciling Power and Equality in International Organizations: A Voting Method from Rabbi Krochmal of Kremsier
Organizations whose members are national governments face a problem in their choice of a voting mechanism: they need systems that recognize the greater power and contribution of the larger members while preserving some influence for the smaller ones. Voting by count and account is suggested here as providing a good compromise between power and equality. It avoids certain surprising and counterintuitive results produced by other systems that international bodies now use, such as basic votes. At the organization’s founding it is easy to negotiate and it also symbolizes the accepted status relationships in an international body better than current methods do, thus giving a vote more legitimacy.
The “Hamburg System” – A Tolerant Application to a Troublesome Resolution
The Controversy over Rabbi Ephraim Laniado’s Inheritance of the Rabbinate in Aleppo
THE ROLE OF NON-JEWISH AUTHORITIES IN RESOLVING CONFLICTS WITHIN JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD
This article presents examples of four categories of Jewish communal conflict in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries where non-Jewish authorities were called upon to resolve the strife. The categories are: supracommunal disputes; intracommunal struggles between the community establishment and rival factions over institutional legitimacy; conflicts between communal institutions and powerful individuals; and disputes between individual Jews. The author concludes that while non-Jewish intervention usually was at the behest of at least one of the Jewish parties, such intervention was always according to the authorities interests and both resulted from and contributed to the weakening of
Jewish autonomous institutions.
LESSONS FROM INTER-COMMUNAL CONFLICT DURING THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD
Jewish society of the Second Temple period was fragmented, sectarianism was rampant, and strife was widespread. There was corruption at the highest levels of leadership and the atmosphere was often charged with messianism. Inter-communal conflict often seemed to be the natural order of things and the results of all this were catastrophic. There are,
though, a number of lessons to be learned from all this, particularly regarding the need for pluralism in the intellectual and religious spheres of Judaism, but within the framework of some agreed upon common ground. It is also especially important for communal and religious leaders to recognize the existence of problems, even if sometimes they are the source and cause of those problems.
AVOIDING INTERVENTION AS A MODEL FOR DE-FACTO RELIGIOUS COMPROMISE
Halakhic rulings of rabbis have been used in recent years regarding burning issues on the Israeli social and political agenda. By presenting clearly defined positions, these rulings preclude compromise and impede the reasonable resolution of conflict. This article marshals an array of responses from various Jewish communities throughout the ages wherein leading rabbis restrained from reproach or withheld taking position on sensitive issues. The various rationales for restraint are presented and the article posits a halakhic category of restraint which resides in a dialectic relationship with the command to rebuke.
Is Compromise Possible in Matters Between Man and God?
Conflict Prevention and Mediation in the Jewish Tradition
Specific cultural factors are important in framing the approaches to conflict and dispute resolution in particular societies. In the traditional Jewish framework, examples and principles related to conflict resolution are found in biblical sources, the Talmud, and other texts, as well as in commentaries. In particular, the Talmudic emphasis on compromise in the context of monetary disputes, the praise of judges who were able to mediate resolutions instead of issuing legal judgments, and the admonishment to preserve the peace in the community are frequently cited. Leaders, including rabbis, are enjoined to act cautiously and accept compromise in order to prevent conflict and to
preserve the peace and welfare of the community.
A New Diplomacy . . .
Whether the Sharm el-Sheikh summit succeeds or not, at some point the violence in the Middle East will subside, and Israelis will ask themselves where do they go from here. Today a growing majority of Israelis, including many disillusioned members of the peace camp, are stating that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat is not a partner for peace. They are right, but implied in this view is that Israel has no diplomatic options for the future.
THE “POST-SECULAR” ERA
With the completion of the process of secularization within the Jewish people, it is now clear that secularism is no substitute for religion.
The Palestinian Provocation
Every Israeli ambassador to the United Nations since the days of Abba Eban has been under clear instructions to keep the U.N. away from the issue of Jerusalem. So it surprises many that Israeli and American diplomats have been considering placing the Temple Mount, the most sensitive religious site in Jerusalem, under the control of the U.N. Security Council.
