Cambridge University Press Experiencing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Children, Peace Communication and Socialization

Over the last eighty years there has been a global rise in 'peace communication' practice, the use of interpersonal and mass communication interventions to mediate between peoples engaged in political conflict. In this study, Yael Warshel assesses Israeli and Palestinian versions of Sesame Street, which targeted negative inter-group attitudes and stereotypes. Merging communication, peace and conflict studies, social psychology, anthropology, political science, education, Middle Eastern and childhood studies, this book provides a template to think about how audiences receive, interpret, use and are influenced by peace communication. By picking apart the text and subtext of the kind of media these specific audiences of children consume, Warshel examines how they interpret peace communication interventions, are socialized into Palestinians, Jewish Israelis and Arab/Palestinian Israelis, the political opinions they express and the violence they reproduce. She questions whether peace communication practices have any relevant structural impact on their audiences, critiques such interventions and offers recommendations for improving future communication interventions into political conflict worldwide. Review 'A serious achievement and on its way to becoming one of the most important books in this area, both methodologically and theoretically. Yael Warshel commands the literature pertaining to children and media, conflict, and peace communication; her call for evidence-based practices applied to the recommendations she poses will reset the direction of the field.' Don Ellis, University of Hartford'Yael Warshel outlines with clarity and rigor a new research agenda for evaluating peace communication interventions based on an interdisciplinary understanding of the political context of conflict. Her book is at the same time a rich and fascinating up-close account of the audience reception of Israeli-Palestinian Sesame Street.' Daniel Hallin, University of California, San Diego Book Description Explores 'peace communication' among children in Israel-Palestine to assess structural outcomes for peace, and illuminate causes for conflict intractability. About the Author Yael Warshel is Assistant Professor in the Bellisario College of Communications and Research Associate of the Rock Ethics Institute at Pennsylvania State University where she is Founding Director of the Children, Media and Conflict Zones Lab. An expert on media and young people in Middle Eastern and African conflict zones, and specializing in peace communication, Warshel has worked for UNESCO, authored numerous articles, including in the Journal of Global Ethics, and coedited Election Studies: What's Their Use (2001) with Elihu Katz. She won three Top Dissertation Awards, from the International Communication Association, National Communication Association and Peace Studies, and a Top Paper Award from the Middle East Studies Association for her analysis of the fieldwork on which this book is partially based.