On Wednesday, October 18th, Professor Daniel Bar-Tal from Tel Aviv University discussed his new book on how Israeli society's acceptance of half-truths and a selective narrative about the past and present of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is allowing it to continue at the expense of both sides.
Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Political Science Department and the UCLA History Department.
About the Book
Sinking into the Honey Trap: The Case of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict describes how Israeli society has positioned itself in the comfort zone, ignoring the reality in which it exists. It is about the story leaders tell us and is accepted by most people. This story shapes the consciousness of Israeli Jewish society by presenting half truths about the past, hiding the present and describing a deceptive vision for the future. Sinking into the Honey Trap explains the mechanisms that allow Israelis to ignore reality and to live in a situation that prolongs the conflict with the Palestinians and postpones the solution to an unseen future with ongoing violence.
The book describes the political forces that have driven Israel to advance the occupation, settling Jews on the West Bank, outside of Israel’s internationally recognized borders. Israeli society is paying a heavy price for the continuation of the conflict—not only in loss of life, emotional health problems and economic costs, but also in the deterioration of democracy and morality that accelerates the development of an authoritarian regime characterized by extreme nationalism and intense religiosity. This process has also occurred in other locations engulfed in intractable conflict, including Turkey, Russia, India, and Rwanda. In these cases, societies have been sinking into the honey trap. Sinking into the Honey Trap can by purchased here.
About the Speakers
Daniel Bar-Tal is a Professor Emeritus at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. His research interest is in political and social psychology studying socio-psychological foundations of intractable conflicts and peacebuilding, as well as developing political understanding among children and peace education. In recent years his writing has focused on authoritarianism. He has published over twenty-five books and over two hundred fifty articles and chapters in major social and political psychological journals, books, and encyclopedias. He served as a President of the International Society of Political Psychology and has received various awards for his academic achievements.
Professor Dov Waxman (Moderator) is the director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. He is a professor of Political Science and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA. Waxman's research focuses on the conflict over Israel–Palestine, Israeli politics and foreign policy, US–Israel relations, American Jewry’s relationship with Israel, Jewish politics, and anti-Semitism. He is the author of dozens of scholarly articles and four books, most recently The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2019).
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Published: Wednesday, October 18, 2023
