Ethnic Group Conflict - Essay Example

? Ethnic Group Conflict International conflicts, wars, and ethnic clashes have increasingly become common. In particular, the Middle East has suffered elongated abuses arising from misunderstanding. This is despite the gains that have been made in the globalised society. Culture is at the centre of these conflicts. There is a need to find out the challenges in the field of social conformity and peace. Modernization has introduced a new platform for international peaceful resolutions between warring communities. However, it is clear that traditional ideas and values are still emotive. An ethnic conflict is a hostile disagreement happening between two groups in a country. Often, these groups are ethnic communities. Ethnic conflicts are said to occur when there is a difference in the cultural reservoirs of the warring ethnic communities. The collection of comprehension that is bred from perceptions, historical happenings and beliefs constitute the cultural reservoirs (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). When addressing cultural conflicts, cultural reservoirs must be respected and addressed. The Israel-Palestinian ethnic conflict is said to have originated from uncontrolled and extreme prejudice and hostility against the Jewish people in Europe that has a catastrophic climax in Germany during the Nazi era (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). This is coupled by the forceful expulsion of the Jewish people from Jerusalem followed by the destruction of the city. The Jewish people began looking for a homeland. They are numerous cultural differences between Jews and Palestinians. Many Palestinian men have opposition towards women working outside the home. Most Palestinian women are homemakers and are active in the cottage industry (Herzog, 1998). The Palestinian culture is against women wearing western attire. Rather, the culture promoted the wearing of Muslim Jilbab. Men are at the center of the culture in Palestinian society (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). Therefore, respect for men is a strong indicator of honor in the life of an Arab woman. In extreme cases, the culture allows honor killings in the family members who brought shame to the extended family. However, the influence of Israel in being felt as a growing number of Palestinians embrace the western lifestyles (Herzog, 1998). This is increasingly fueled by the tendency for some Palestinians to further education in Europe and America. It is argued that the inequalities in the Palestinian culture lead to frustrations which are expressed through outbursts towards Israel in most cases (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The young generation in the Palestinian territory is used to rebellion and war. They culture has made them resistant to parental and societal authority, which is crucial for the development of Palestine. Israel is a masculine but the non-patriarchal country. Both men and women in the Israeli are obligated to serve in the army. This includes fighter pilots and combat fields. The genders relate on an egalitarian basis. Families in the Israeli community have both secular and religious jurisdiction (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). There happen to be parallel legal systems working in tandem. Both cultures have several comparisons and contracts. They have a culture of entrenched positions and psychological obstacles. The communities are accused of dubious motives and poor timing (Herzog, 1998). While the Palestinians are a face culture that operates through indirect communication and hierarchical worship, the Israelis are said to be direct and blunt. During times of crisis, radicals seem to take control in both sides (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). The communities have different decision making mechanisms. The Israelis are said to be individualistic and flat while Palestinians appear to be hierarchical and collective (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The two communities vie for the same land. Palestinians and Israelis are passionate about family relationships and are seen to be family-oriented (Herzog, 1998). Palestinians have been accused of being sentimental and traditional while the Jewish people are seen to be realistic and modern. According to Shiraev & Levy (2010), social conformity is a social influence that pushes the individuals to alter their attitudes or conduct in order to adhere to social norms. The need to measure up to the expectations of the majority and fear of being sanctioned is some of the reasons fronted for social conformity. In the Middle East context, both Jewish people and Palestinians encounter social pressures (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The social pressures revolve around Jewish and Muslim religions. Research shows both communities have social cultural backgrounds that emphasize on the submission of wife to the husband. According to Herzog (1998), the Israelis culture has a tough balancing act between the battlefront and home front gender split. Most women are involved in the home life (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). The economic factors in the Palestinian refugee camps have caused women to look for jobs. The unemployment rate among men in the camp stands at 50 percent (Herzog, 1998). The female Palestinian population is increasingly becoming educated, which is contributing to shifting dynamics in both the traditional role of women and the approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Social conformity has an enormous impact in the Palestinian approach to solving the conflict. Social perceptions and cognition play crucial role in addressing ethnic conflicts. The biggest challenge is the language gap between the warring communities. The disparities created by religion, economic status and social standing can be broken through bridging the language barrier. Negative attitudes between communities in conflict can be addressed through mediation. There is an urgent need for both Israeli and Palestinian young generations to be accorded bilingual learning opportunities. Social perception is susceptible to environmental influence and is seen to be socialization experiences mechanism. The daily communication is the most effective tool in creating social perception framework. The linguistic foundation upon which conflicts are verbalized and conceptualized is offered through language. A shared language can help create a common-ground culture that can act as a platform to emphasize the commonalities and minimize the differences. Studies show that growing up in similar environments leads to interpretation of many elements of culture in a common way. This is crucial in resolving cultural conflicts and negative ethnicity (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Through contact stereotypes, biases and misconceptions can be addressed and minimized. Social perceptions of the Israelis and Palestinians can be significantly impacted through the use of bilingual education through contact hypothesis (Herzog, 1998). Social cognition is the process by which ethnic communities start interpreting, remembering and eventually use the information concerning life and culture. Social perception uses socialization and environment to help the warring communities. Social cognition is the way information is gathered, stored and used to lift the standard of living (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). In the Middle East, it has been observed that the narratives individuals construct about their nations have a profound effect of the attitudes about the opposing parties. The narratives in the Middle East seek to devalue the position of the perceived enemy while at the same time bolster the national groups expectations. Research shows that teachers play a hugely crucial role in the mindsets of conflicting cultures (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). They can pass these narratives to the next generation or alter these mindsets. Studies show that classes that are linguistically integrated have a strong advantage when it comes to dealing with social, ethnic and religious ethnic conflicts. Through teachers, the forces of national identity and culture can be passed through the merits of contact hypothesis. In the Middle East, the national narratives are seen to be extremely biased and disconnected from objective evidence with contradicts either side (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Biased teaching culture has been difficult to dismantle even in the institutions meant to provide a balanced education system on cultural cohesion (Herzog, 1998). The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is perceived to be confounded by religious history. There are historical prejudices that confound the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. National history in the segregated schools serves as moral agents that reinforce the prejudices and stereotypes either indirectly or directly (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Since there is no common language between the children from both nationalities, the younger generation is left to believe their own narrative is ideal or superior to the rest (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The progress of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been counteracted by the biases in the national histories and narratives taught to children coupled by a weak bilingual education system. Research shows that both cultures act through social conformity. The expression of this conformity is seen through conflicts predicated on religious, economic and social consideration. In the state of Israel, this has led to strengthening of gender roles. The Palestinian side has extreme disparities in the economy. This has contributed to an increasing change in the roles of the women in the patriarchal society (Herzog, 1998). The social perception mechanism has created a cultural gap between the Israelis and Palestinians in the bilingual learning systems. After centuries of religious conflicts and cultural differences, the entrenched national narratives seem to have becomes a way of life (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). This has threatened to overturn the gains of the bilingual education. The history taught in the segregated school seems to perpetuate the cycle of conflict. Ethnic groups are distinguished through multiple attributes. For the interethnic crises to be controlled there, must be ways of addressing the contentious attributes. The distinction between ethnic groups is a continuous dichotomy and the cultural differences vary. Palestinians and Israelis heavily depend on religious doctrine and political conformity (Herzog, 1998). The significance of citizenship in these communities must have some attributes on religion and politics. The Islamic and Judaism cultures are known to have complex and strong religious norms and leadership (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). The strict conformity has caused challenges during the process of seeking resolutions. The conflict has been emotive and can only be addressed through a long-term strategy. Religious conflicts have little room from flexibility because convictions play a significant role. Both culture and belief systems are entrenched in the leadership of these communities (Herzog, 1998). Severe religious differences have hurt the process on seeking the common ground between the warring sides. The different convictions have resulted to violent rebellions and civil wars (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2010). The global terrorism threat is spearheaded by individuals who use religion as an excuse to cause mass death. The Israeli-Palestine conflict has taken a proxy direction which leading world powers taking sides in the conflict. The United States plays a crucial role in the state of Israel. However, these powers can play an influential role in establishing a neutral ground in the peace process on Middle East (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The United States and other nations can establish or fund education systems that facilitate the use of common language and the reduction of human right abuse. The United Nations resolutions play an immense role in establishing the peace making process. The United States works closely with supporters of Palestinian authorities to achieve had peaceful Middle East resolutions. In conclusion, Israel and Palestine have had a conflict of hundreds of years. The conflict has resulted to excesses and outbursts of war. The communities have religious and cultural background that is seen to fuel the century long conflict despite many initiatives to arbitrate the conflict. Flexibility and use of a bilingual educational system is seen to be a hugely crucial aspect of dealing with this conflict. Passing of generational prejudices needs to be checked in order to establish basic respect for human rights. Ethnic conflicts revolved around sharing of resources. The only way to deal with such conflicts is to get the stakeholders having direct negotiations on a long-term strategy to resolve such conflicts. References Bekerman, Z., & Zembylas, M. (2010). Fearful symmetry: Palestinian and Jewish teachers confront contested narratives in integrated bilingual education. Teaching & Teacher Education, 26(3), 507-515. Herzog, H. (1998). Homefront and battlefront: The status of Jewish and Palestinian women in Israel. Israel Studies, 3(1), 61 Shiraev, E. B. & Levy, D. A. (2010). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn Bacon. Read More