By Anne-Marie Kent Finding hope in seemingly hopeless situations is the work of those dedicated to dispute resolution. And so, as newspapers reported escalating Middle East violence, UMass Boston's Dispute Resolution Program presented the Ben and Sylvia Slomoff Lecture by Harvard Professor Herbert Kelman, a scholar-practitioner with 25 years of experience promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Although Dr. Kelman did not address current events, he did suggest that long-term resolution of the conflict might be achieved through negotiation at the level of national identity.
National identity is a powerful part of the Middle East equation.
Despite this powerfully divisive quality of national identity, Dr. Kelman stated that the concept of negotiating at the level of national identity provides hope for change. For example, in the working groups of Israelis and Palestinians facilitated by Drs. It was a unique moment for faculty and students. Ann-Marie Kent is a staff reporter for the University Reporter . This article previously appeared in the Fall 2000 edition of the University Reporter .