What do you think?
Rate this book
Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East
The Intifada of 2000-2001 has demonstrated the end of an era of diplomacy in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The style of peacemaking of the Olso Accords has been called into question by the facts on the ground. Elite forms of peacemaking that do not embrace the basic needs of average people on all sides are bound to fail.
The complete neglect of deeper cultural and religious systems in the peace process is now apparent, as is the role that this neglect has played in the failure of the process. Building on his earlier book, Between Eden and Armageddon , Gopin provides a detailed blueprint of how the religious traditions in question can become a principal asset in the search for peace and justice. He demonstrates how religious people can be the critical missing link in peacemaking, and how the incorporation of their values and symbols can unleash a new dynamic that directly addresses basic issues of ethics, justice, and peace.
Gopin's analysis of the theoretical, theological, and political planes shows us what has been achieved thus far, as well as what must be done next in order to ensure effective final settlement negotiations and secure, sovereign, democratic countries for both peoples.
The complete neglect of deeper cultural and religious systems in the peace process is now apparent, as is the role that this neglect has played in the failure of the process. Building on his earlier book, Between Eden and Armageddon , Gopin provides a detailed blueprint of how the religious traditions in question can become a principal asset in the search for peace and justice. He demonstrates how religious people can be the critical missing link in peacemaking, and how the incorporation of their values and symbols can unleash a new dynamic that directly addresses basic issues of ethics, justice, and peace.
Gopin's analysis of the theoretical, theological, and political planes shows us what has been achieved thus far, as well as what must be done next in order to ensure effective final settlement negotiations and secure, sovereign, democratic countries for both peoples.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
2 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 4, 2014
Gopin provides a wonderful perspective on the role of cultural and religious tradition in peacebuilding efforts in Israel. He appeals to the common factors among Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and provides a cohesive overview of how such religious traditions interact with each other. I would like to read this again, hopefully more leisurely, and reflect more upon this importance of this kind of dialogue. Gopin provides wonderful suggestions of how embodying practices and gestures can be used to bridge gaps between groups where there is a significant history of pain on all sides. These kinds of discussions could be transforming as many continue to work towards building peace in a place of such turbulence.
Displaying 1 of 1 review