Organising Across-Identity Group Divisions in the Context of Acute Political Conflict—"Operation Cast Lead": A Case Study

The paper describes the inter-communal organising effort spearheaded by the authors, two Jewish Israelis, of Jews and Arabs in Israel's southern Negev region during Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-09. The organising effort began due to growing concern for the Jewish and Arab populatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The British journal of social work 2012-09, Vol.42 (6), p.1060-1073
Main Authors: Grodofsky, Merav Moshe, Yudelevich, Daniela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arabs
Armed conflict
Citizen Participation
Citizens
Coexistence
Communalism
Communities
Community organization
Conflict
Higher education
Internet
Israel
Jews
Military operations
Negev
Norms
Peace making
Political conflict
Political conflicts
Political identity
Politics
Professions
Social Work
Students
Telecommunications
Violence
War
War conflict
Winter
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Summary:The paper describes the inter-communal organising effort spearheaded by the authors, two Jewish Israelis, of Jews and Arabs in Israel's southern Negev region during Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-09. The organising effort began due to growing concern for the Jewish and Arab populations residing in the Southern Negev of Israel and the manner in which Operation Cast Lead would impact on the delicate social and political fabric that enabled inter-communal coexistence. Organising meetings and internet communications between the communities led to the citizen initiative 'darom4peace'—'the south4peace' that bore two joint Jewish-Arab peace vigils calling for the end to violence by Hamas and the Israeli government. The efforts exposed the authors, a social work academic and her student to the complexities inherent to organising during a period of acute political conflict. Issues for consideration of the role of the profession in the context of political conflict are discussed.
ISSN:0045-3102
1468-263X
DOI:10.1093/bjsw/bcs068