Conflict Engagement

Concept

The Kumi method has been developed as a tool within a larger approach to engaging with conflict, an approach which we refer to as STiC, or Social Transformation in Conflict. This approach is guided by the idea that conflicts exist within broader contexts in which deeply rooted identities are bound together with entrenched social structures. It is characteristic of mainstream conflict resolution that attention is focused on identities, while the larger social structures, which contribute to the establishment and perpetuation of group identities, are perceived often in a limited or oblique way. Becoming conscious of the interrelation between identity, conflict culture and social structures, and the way in which conflict is an expression of that interrelation, enables individuals and groups to look for transcending solutions. Such solutions, if they conform with legal and ethical norms, and as long as they fulfill the basic human needs of all parties to the conflict, create the possibility for effective collective action through which a change may occur in the dynamics of the conflict itself.

In a deep, long-lasting conflict we believe it is important for groups to learn how to engage these instances of ongoing strife, to bring them to the surface, study, and generally begin to view them as opportunities for moral growth and social change. Engaging conflict provides an opportunity for self-study, which will eventually enable the design of new behavior, strategies and to implement change. People need to look at a conflict with new eyes, change the common perception of it from a destructive burden to a creative possibility. Thinking differently about conflict is a prerequisite for acting differently when it occurs. Therefore, a deep analysis is needed of conflict, its causes, the culture and ideology which legitimize it and the institutions and other social structures which perpetuate it.

The active engagement in conflict and attempts to successfully turn it into a catalyst for deep social transformation is a long-term historical process. No one knows exactly how to engineer such a process. But years of research and practice, some successes and numerous failures point to a number of settings in which interventions could be made. These may include working with existing coalitions across the conflict line to implement strategies for mobilizing public opinion behind the need to transform the conflict into a catalyst for peace and development. Another possibility is strengthening those organizations which are already active in solving the conflict by providing them with strategies and implementation tools to become more relevant and active in their society. And cognizant of the power asymmetries characterizing many intractable conflicts, interventions could also take place to enhance the capacity of oppressed local communities to sustain themselves economically and to generate a new type of empowered local and national leaders.

In any of these settings an intervention incorporating the Kumi method can be undertaken on Track 2 and Track 3 levels, bi-nationally and uni-nationally, provided it is grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the conflict’s context, the competing incentives for change, and the likely obstacles to progress especially those reflecting powerful interests that are benefiting from maintaining the status quo.

Application

In 2009-2010 Transform and its partner organisations: the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), the Young Israeli Forum for Cooperation (YIFC), and the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation (Germany) designed and implemented the project “Beyond managing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Demonstrating the Effectiveness of a Conflict-Sensitive Social Transformation Approach.” The project was funded by the EU’s Partnership for Peace Programme. The project had the following objectives:

- To demonstrate the effectiveness of the new method in that it equips groups with the capacity to deal with conflicts, to organize themselves towards action, and to challenge the discourses and institutional structures that are blocking the conflict from being peacefully resolved.

- To form a group of 36 facilitators, trained in the new method, who are committed to furthering the project as a means of building peace and spearheading social transformation from below.

The activities implemented in this stage were designed to assist groups in conflict but also to further refine the method.

First a group of 14 Israeli, Palestinian and European facilitators were trained on the new method. These new Kumi practitioners co-facilitated 14 workshops, beginning as supporting facilitators to the method experts who developed Kumi and eventually running the workshops on their own with minimal supervision.

Four workshops were conducted with Israeli and Palestinian organisations that were already working together. These workshops focused on enhancing the capability of the existing Israeli and Palestinian coalitions to mobilize active constituencies on both sides of the conflict line to improve their influence on challenging the structures and cultures sustaining the conflict.

Another four workshops were held with Palestinians to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new method in enhancing the capability of Palestinian organizations and local communities to overcome internal fragmentation, provide an enabling environment for empowered leaders to emerge, engage in autonomous development aimed at satisfying the basic human needs of Palestinian society, and organize more effectively to challenge the occupation.

Four other workshops were held with Israeli participants. The objective on this intra-Israeli track was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new method to facilitate the emergence of coalitions capable of challenging the Israeli security discourse. It was assumed that the current state of the Israeli security discourse represents a major impediment to movement toward ending the conflict.

Another two workshops aimed at bringing together Israelis and Palestinians to discuss the issue of self-determination. These workshops brought together Palestinian refugees and mid-level leaders Israelis from political parties such as Likud, Kadima and Labour. In both workshops, they were joined by European activists and long-term observers of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The objective of these workshops was to engage these groups in a critical dialogue, amongst each other and with a third party (Europeans). The aim was to help them to reflect and to differentiate between what is legitimate and what is not legitimate in their goals and, building on this, to redefine these goals in legitimate ways in order for them to achieve their needs. It is important here to emphasize that the main focus was to help the participants realize that while needs are always legitimate, specific goals and means to achieve these needs may be illegitimate and, over the long run, undermine the capacity to achieve the legitimate goals.

Based on the findings of a major evaluation of the project and after conceptualizing the new design of the next step the project will be replicated on a wider scale to empower a critical mass in both societies to take effective steps towards peace, justice and development in Israel and Palestine, in the context of the wider Euro-Mediterranean region.

For more information, contact Michaela Birk birk@transform-centre.org.