Carlo Strenger, the chairman of the clinical graduate psychology programme at Tel Aviv University, is the author of “The Designed Self.”
Dr. Carlo Strenger
Professor Strenger advises U.S. Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, to pursue what he (Strenger) calls “therapeutic diplomacy” to reach some sort of compromise solution to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.
It’s a long shot and it might worth trying…but how to proceed? The challenge is daunting.
( You can see professor Strenger’s thesis here. My variation will follow).
In the meantime, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is of the opinion that Israeli policies in the Occupied Territory of The West Bank and the blockaded territory of The Gaza Strip amount to a form of Apartheid.
His allegation is, of course rejected by most Jewish groups and by Israel’s allies, including Canada. The Province of Ontario legislature, for example, has passed a resolution condemning what has come to be called “Apartheid Week”, an anti-Israel protest movement, supported by students and faculty at The University of Michigan in the U.S.
This one-sided movement is doomed to failure, if for no other reason than it divides rather than unites. The very name evokes anger and outrage.
The foundational problem of what is, by any stretch, a profound and ongoing crisis, is the inability of both Palestinians and Israelis to come to terms with their own history either separately or together, a point made by the professor from Tel Aviv.
Professor Strenger maintains that neither side has had the moral strength to admit its respective mistakes and shortcomings. Until that happens he suggests, no road to a lasting peace can be opened.
At this increasingly crucial point in time, there is tremendous suffering, fear and anger on both sides. And both are in desperate need of assistance…and… perhaps a measure of what psychologists call “tough love.”
In the case of nations, the “tough love” should originate with the world body known as The United Nations. But the U.N. seems paralyzed when it comes to the Mideast.
Professor’s Strenger contends that all efforts at peacemaking will undoubtedly fail, because those who are in a position to help, assume that there is some rationality on both sides.
But as we have seen from very recent history…
- the firing of Palestinian rockets into Israel,
- the Israeli assault on Gaza,
- the Hamas refusal to recognize The Jewish State,
- the assasination of a Palestinian leader in a foreign country by Israeli Secret Agents,
- the assasination of a peacemaking Israeli Prime Minister by an Israeli Jew,
- the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements,
- the failure of the U.N. to implement its own resolutions,
- the angry rhetoric from both sides and much much more…
there is no rationality and the dearly-hoped-for peace settlement appears to be more elusive than ever.
As this untenable situation wears on – and wears down the patience of those on both sides of the divide – the situation becomes much more volatile day by day.
While professor Strenger’s suggestion is apt, there is little precedent for the application of “therapeutic diplomacy” by any of those who wish to help bring about peace, with the exception of George Mitchell’s successful negotiations between two enemies in Northern Ireland.
Clearly, when it comes to the Middle East, the parties cannot solve this problem by themselves. So the solution must come from outside the region and from outside government…at least to begin with.
Tomorrow: In an attempt to pick up where Dr. Stenger leaves off, I propose a place to start.
