Keys for community dialogue: Preparing ethnically mixed cities in Israel for addressing conflictual overlap of cultural holidays

Abstract

This article describes the contribution of employing community dialogue for the prevention of conflict escalation in ethnically mixed cities. It focuses on preparations of Mediation and Dialogue Centers in the Community (MDCC) for dealing with potential eruptions of violent conflicts over 2 years, due to the overlap of two Jewish and Muslim religious holidays, with opposite characteristics and very different styles. By engaging in processes of community dialogue, it became possible to construct a preventive infrastructure, based on a holistic strategy that involved community activists, civil society organizations and institutions, political leaders and religious leaders, law enforcement bodies, etc. The community model adopted for this task was composed of diverse activities that included explanation, enforcement, education, and dialogue. These combined activities contributed to finding agreed-upon solutions in the event of conflict escalation. The participatory action research (PAR) that accompanied the process combined learning from successes and exchange of information by professionals from the ethnically mixed cities. The insights from the PAR that accompanied the process extracted the model, for the creation of a sustainable community process that creates community resilience. Consequences for praxis include: the creation of an infrastructure of community dialogue; remaining neutral; the undertaking of multiple collaborations, integration of areas in the community, and individual work with stakeholders.