Pursuing Reconciliation in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: Utopian or Realistic?
31 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2011 Last revised: 3 Sep 2011
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
Reconciliation, far from being a utopian dream, is the most realistic course toward a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Four steps support this argument. First, the Christian vision of God reconciling all things is at the center of the Christian story and worthy of attention. Second, the research on reconciliation and politics suggests that the pursuit of reconciliation is Israel-Palestine would be possible.Third, reconciliation-based approaches actually provide a hopeful and more realistic approach to final status issues in the conflict when compared to other approaches. In conclusion, reconciliation-based approaches offer a distinctly Christian alternative that addresses root causes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and deals with realities on the ground while providing realistic hope (however utopian-seeming at the moment) for possible resolution.
Keywords: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, political reconciliation, reconciliation
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