Religion in its most negative form has and can be the basis of conflict escalation and terror. However, religion in its more noble and elevated forms can also be a force for peacebuilding, particularly between Jews and Arabs. If the slow but steady progress toward Israel’s acceptance into Middle East continues, an interreligious dimension will clearly accompany it as the Abraham Accords demonstrates. Yet, as the region continues to evolve and new challenges emerge, new peacebuilding strategies will be required. Approaches to Jewish-Arab Interreligious Dialogue and Peacebuilding: Theory and Practice follows the genre of scholars and practitioners who have contended that the religious contribution to conflict resolution and peacebuilding has been sorely overlooked, particularly in the Middle East. This book delves into the complexities of Jewish-Arab relations by examining both the theoretical frameworks and practical initiatives that seek to bridge divides through religious dialogue. Covering topics such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, Jewish political tradition, and religious diplomacy, this book is an essential resource for academicians, scholars, practitioners in peacebuilding, policymakers, government officials, religious leaders and communities, students and educators, and more.

This publication presents a wide compendium of approaches to Jewish-Arab dialogue and conflict resolution from an interdisciplinary perspective based on political science, social psychology and cultural studies, integrating both theory and practice. It combines both qualitative analysis with quantitative empirical results based on case studies. It appeals to both researchers and practitioners. It promises to offer a treatment of innovative and timely themes such as religious diplomacy, interreligious dialogue and relationship building in Israeli mixed cities and the place of both idealism and realism or both power and dialogue in the advancement of inter-religious approaches to dialogue and cooperation between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. The book also includes a focus on conflict resolution strategies rooted in the Jewish Political Tradition which is relevant to the larger discussion of religion, dialogue and conflict resolution.

Scholars are seeking to identify how to constructively integrate faith into diplomacy. Proponents of faith-based diplomacy recognise that incorporating faith into peacemaking activities assists in managing identity-based conflict and religiously motivated violence in the contemporary international system. A promising strategy within the scope of faith-based diplomacy is interfaith dialogue. The study and practice of interfaith dialogue has been reinvigorated since the advent of 9/11, and yet the link between interfaith dialogue and diplomacy remains underdeveloped. The cases of Indonesia and the United States present lessons on how states can effectively use interfaith dialogue to achieve policy objectives, while recognising that some policies are detrimental to achieving diplomatic goals. This paper seeks to provide some framework for bringing interfaith dialogue into the scope of diplomacy by illuminating how faith-based diplomacy and interfaith dialogue can be innovative diplomatic perspectives useful in addressing contemporary global issues.

This new Routledge Handbook offers a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of the meanings and uses of the term ‘peacebuilding’, and presents cutting-edge debates on the practices conducted in the name of peacebuilding. The term ‘peacebuilding’ has had remarkable staying power. Other terms, such as ‘conflict resolution’ have waned in popularity, while the acceptance and use of the term ‘peacebuilding’ has grown to the extent that it is the hegemonic and over-arching term for many forms of mediation, reconciliation and strategies to induce peace. Despite this, however, it is rarely defined and often used to mean different things to different audiences. Routledge Handbook of Peacebuilding aims to be a one-stop comprehensive resource on the literature and practices of contemporary peacebuilding. The book is organised into six key sections: Section 1: Reading peacebuilding Section 2: Approaches and cross-cutting themes Section 3: Disciplinary approaches to peacebuilding Section 4: Violence and security Section 5: Everyday living and peacebuilding Section 6: The infrastructure of peacebuilding This new Handbook will be essential reading for students of peacebuilding, mediation and post-conflict reconstruction, and of great interest to students of statebuilding, intervention, civil wars, conflict resolution, war and conflict studies and IR in general.

Foreword / David Smock -- Introduction -- Religion : a blessing or a curse? -- After the collapse of Oslo -- The Alexandria Summit and its aftermath -- Grassroots interreligious dialogues -- Educating the educators -- Other Muslim voices for interreligious peacebuilding -- Symbolic ritual as a mode of peacemaking -- Active solidarity : rabbis for human rights -- From personal grief to collective compassion -- Journeys of personal transformation -- Practical recommendations -- Appendices.

This book describes the theory and practice of interreligious dialogue, education and action in Israel and Palestine in the context of the political peace process as well as the peace-building processes and programs, by drawing on personal experiences and encounters of more than twenty-five years. Through memorable incidents and inspirational stories, the book offers insights into the obstacles and challenges, as well as the achievements and successes of interreligious dialogue and action programs. In addition, it provides a practical model of interreligious dialogue for people around the world and leaves the reader with a message of hope for the future.

Communication is vital to the prosperity and survival of the community, with the quality of communication amongst its members directly improving or worsening the value of the community. However, with the increase in immigration and relocation of refugees, the need to accommodate diverse cultural groups becomes imperative for the viability and survivability of a community while posing challenges to communication. Intercultural and interfaith dialogue can be used constructively to cultivate, manage, and sustain diversity and wellbeing in particularly deeply divided communities. Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogues for Global Peacebuilding and Stability is a critical research publication that explores the importance of conflict resolution strategies among populations that include a varied amalgamation of cultural and religious backgrounds. With the increasing emphasis on intercultural understanding promoted by governments, civil societies, and international mediators, this book offers relevant remedies for major afflictions in the world today, such as exclusion, marginalization, xenophobia, and racism. It is ideal for government officials, policymakers, activists, diplomats, lawyers, international trade and commerce agencies, religious institutions, academicians, researchers, and students working in a variety of disciplines including political science, international relations, law, communication, sociology, and cultural studies.