Planting hatred, sowing pain : the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain, Salinas examines the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict focusing on its effect on the lives of the individuals on both sides, and the undeniable need to come to an agreement. Salinas’s writing style is clear and to the point, the book is objective and Salinas equally places responsibility for this conflict on both sides. Salinas’ book is extremely well organized and the transition from topic to topic is amazingly smooth. What I found very helpful was the fact that Salinas included numerous studies to support his main point. The evidence was strong and convincing and there wasn’t one piece that I found weak. Moises Salinas had two main purposes for writing this book: The first is “to present and explore some of the social and psychological factors that are central to the conflict and its resolution: (1) stereotypes and prejudice, (2) extremism, (3) trauma, and (4) reconciliation.”(p. XIV), and the second is “to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel, we just need to know where to look for it.”(p. XXVI) Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain, is an excellent book about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This book is not only intended for individuals involved in the conflict, but for anyone who is looking for a better understanding of the conflict. I liked this book immensely and to be quite honest I wasn’t exactly familiar with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict before I read it. I now feel that I can sit down and have a conversation with someone about the conflict and I feel that is an extraordinary feeling for someone to take with them after having read a book. After reading this book I believe that there is no way that this century old conflict will come to an end unless there is compromise and understanding of one another’s cultures. In the introduction, Salinas gives a brief historical background of the subject, and also explains that the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’s solution cannot be found by simply looking at political solutions to practical problems: one has to look into the social and psychological difficulties. In the first chapter Salinas analyzes the term stereotyping and how the definition of the word evolved over time. He points out that stereotyping clouds both the Israelis’ and Palestinians’ judgment, which in turns prevents them from empathizing with their enemy. Stereotyping leads to hatred and violence. We then get an interview with a female named Ana who is Jewish. She feels that the land is theirs and feels that the Arabs don’t want peace, that their religion is against peace and that they only want war. Ana feels the only solution is war and that after the war the problem will be solved because only one side will be standing. The second interview is with Soha a Palestinian woman who has a son with kidney problems. When her son needed to go to the hospital they were stopped by the Israelis at the border and were given problems, the husband was beaten and they only let Soha and her son pass through. Soha feels hatred towards the Jewish. The second chapter is about Extremism, Dehumanization, and Violence. Salinas states that “Both at the political and at the psychological levels, extremists in both camps have the ability to slow down and even stop any process of dialogue and reconciliation” (p.28). Salinas explains that it is not the individual personality, level of poverty or lack of education that drives extremists, but a complex social and cultural interaction. The chapter’s conclusion is that extremism is a vicious circle and a phenomenon that can only be dealt with by removing the factors that lead to the social support of its tactics. The next interview is of a Jewish man named Itamar who is a right-wing activist. Itamar has extreme harted towards Arabs. He states: “…I don’t think that the Arab people has a right to exist at all, let alone exist and live in the State of Israel…” Itamar has so much hatred that he states he feels one solution would be to do a holocaust to them. The last comment that Itamar states is a dehumanizing comment towards Arabs: “They are not human beings you can talk to, and certainly not trust them.” The following interview is of a Palestinian man named Hussein. He feels that all Jews are murderers and he feels that they conquered his land and he hates every Jew for it. Hussein feels that there is no solution because there is no middle point between good and evil. The third chapter is abut trauma and other psychological consequences of conflict. It deals with the real victims and how their experiences have effected their lives. Many victims or friends and families of victims end up developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Salinas goes into detail analyzing PTSD within Palestinians and Israelis. There was an interview with Ron, an Israelis man. Ron was sitting in a café one day when on the other side of the street there was an explosion. Ron was not injured badly but now five years later, suffers from PTSD, still to this day he hears and sees what he heard and saw that day. The slamming of a door scares Ron. Ron is a peaceful man and very levelheaded. The following interview is with a Palestinian man named Ibrahim whose house and parents house were destroyed by the Israelis and they were left without a place to live for three months. Ibrahim is still to this day suffering psychologically and health wise. He feels completely helpless. He has hatred towards the Israelis and feels that the conflict will last forever. The fourth chapter is titled “Hope: Reconciliation and The Psychology of Peace” and deals with what Salinas believes to be possible steps towards political peace and reconciliation. Salinas points out that these obstacles such as differences in communication styles or perceptions of justice, added onto the existing stereotypes and prejudices, make it difficult to reach an agreement. Strategies such as group encounters, cultural events, and economic cooperation are positive, but Salinas states that there are very few attempts to organize joint programming.Finally, Salinas points out education. “Education, of course, has always been at the forefront of any attempts to bring about reconciliation and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians” (p. 103). Salinas ends this chapter in his conclusion stating that “There is no easy road to peace” (p.111). The following interview is of a Palestinian man named Abu Muhammad whose son had bone marrow cancer and was treated in an Israeli hospital. He had a good experience with the Israelis. He stated that the doctors and nurses and his old co-workers cared and checked on the well being of his son and himself. He feels that it is time to make peace and he claims he has always felt that way. The final interview is with a Israeli man named Yoav who is in the Peace Now Movement. He feels that the Israelis need to remember that Arabs are people too. He feels in order to solve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict both nations are going to have to deal with situations they don’t want to deal with. In Salinas’s epilogue he states that “This is a conflict that has lasted already, one way or another, over one century. And some people believe and are prepared for it to last forever” (Epilogue). Salinas feels that a lot more can be done and it is our moral responsibility to stand up and do more. Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain, The Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is a realistic book that incorporates eight real life people either from the Israeli or Palestinian background, that have had real traumatic experiences. The book leaves the reader wondering if either side is right, but most certainly the book leaves the reader with a feeling that something needs to be done and it needs to be done fast. Some people in both nations feel that the death and extermination of the other nation is the only way to solve this conflict, while others are looking for compromise and peace. I feel that one of the men interviewed in this book named Ibrahim made a great observation. He stated, “There are many different opinions between the two nations and at the end it is very difficult that one of them will give up, even a small thing, and every side wants everything” (p.84). The book is extremely well written, once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down until I was finished, but most importantly, I wanted a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.