The purpose of this article, inspired by the works of Martin Buber, is to propose an alternative to the inherent dichotomy of Western culture. It may allow Western culture to transcend its fixed nature towards new directions and to suggest challenging solutions for reshaping the questions – what is the role of man in the world, and what is the nature of education? Although Western culture sacralizes and attributes pivotal importance to the independence of human beings, in actuality the human (...) spirit contains a constant dialectic between the need for independence in shaping and crystallizing man's individualism, and his need for differentiation and dependence on otherness. While that otherness expresses defamiliarization, it also allows connections and the need to structure otherness; and dependence on it is one of the basic needs of human existence. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to examine how Muslim Arab–Israeli teachers conceptualize the Israeli–Arab conflict with their students. The findings show that Arab schools are in a constant state of tension between opposing poles of identity and belonging. The teachers emphasize their students’ alienation from the Israeli establishment and their lack of identification with the Jewish state, while expressing deep identification with the Palestinian people. They are able to cope with this split by seeking contents and coping mechanisms of (...) a universal nature that are not in dispute, and which enable students to repress the dissonance in which they live. (shrink)

Conceived through collaboration by activist academics from Israel and Northern Ireland, this book draws from experience to offer practical and theoretical insights and programs for promoting activist pedagogy for shared learning and shared life in divided societies.