Planting Hatred Sowing Pain

As renewed hatred pumped the people of Israel and Palestine in summer 2006 fueling a flurry of bombings kidnappings and murders author Moises Salinas continued research and interviews for this book in those nations. In Planting Hatred Sowing Pain the psychology professor explains why it often seems this conflict that has been raging more than 70 years is illogical. While in recent years both groups have basically agreed on the broad parameters of a peace agreement the fight still continues. Salinas argues that the obstacles to achieving a solution are not just political but also psychological. He shows that just as disagreements over borders refugees and settlements keep the parties from the negotiating table so do psychological factors including mistrust hatred stereotypes and prejudice.The world has known many periods when two factions manifested such strong hatred of each other that bloody conflicts were regular ongoing unsurprising events. But there is perhaps no modern conflict as sustained as that of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Through interviewees ranging from an Israeli right-wing settler and a Palestinian militant to commoners on both sides who were simply victims of violence Salinas shows how the hatred and mistrust were created and why they persist. The book includes compelling reviews of the psychological research regarding Israeli-Palestinian relationships and of stereotype and prejudice formation violence and dehumanization post-traumatic stress as well as reconciliation mediation and peacemaking. An appendix provides the Geneva Accord model of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace agreement.