Half a Century through Personal Stories: Palestinian and Israelis in 1967 and Onward

这个民族志项目涉及个人的个人经历，他们的生活跨越了自1967年以来以色列/巴勒斯坦冲突的动荡几十年。国际、国家和地方的政治机构以其军事力量在领土上塑造和行政上控制着这一地区，并且通常无视具有异质身份的个人在这一日常背景下的交流和文化实践。发现自己从公寓里撤离，却看到别人搬进来；尽管政治动荡，仍坚持睦邻关系；在敌人家里工作，照顾他们的孩子；由以色列和巴勒斯坦私家侦探领导的研究人员将共同记录这些被忽视但强大的经验，这些经验可以追溯到50多年前。他们将共同培训初级研究人员使用定性访谈方法，并通过实例证明实地关注生活经验的启发式价值，这些经验在冲突各方之间和之外都得到了传播。先前的研究表明，理解对手的恐惧和渴望可以减少对对方的敌意，并有助于认识到不同经历的共同困难。个人故事以尖锐的形式概括了复杂的经历。对它们的分析和在有关人口中传播有助于对个人愿望与政治两极分化之间的差距有更有区别的了解。该项目与最老的几代人合作，为那些生活在坚固的边界中间的人准备了一个话语的聚会场所。一个元项目伴随着两个本地研究团队；它依赖于与主要项目相同的方法，并说明即使在和平时期，定性的社会和文化研究人员也必须与他们的研究地点纠缠在一起。元项目详细阐述了在冲突情况下必须集中的反身性，以便在冲突线之间进行合作，同时对-à-vis现场顾问保持真正的同理心。这项研究作为一个整体，旨在为以色列/巴勒斯坦以及其他此类冲突的年轻一代提供一种缓和强硬政治立场并超越共同人性基础的方法。

This ethnographic project addresses the personal experiences of individuals, whose lives span over the tumultuous decades of conflict in Israel/Palestine since 1967. International, national and local political bodies with their military power territorially shape and administratively control this region, and generally disregard the communicative and cultural practices of individuals with heterogeneous identifications in this everyday context. Finding oneself evacuated from an apartment and witnessing others moving in, upholding neighborly relations despite political turmoil, working in enemy households and taking care of their children, protesting on behalf of those whoare oppressed by ones government: These overlooked yet powerful experiences reaching back over five decades will be jointly documented by researchers led by an Israeli and a Palestinian P.I. They will jointly train junior researchers in qualitative interview methods and demonstrate by example the heuristic value of on the ground attention to life experiences, brought into circulation among and beyond the conflict parties. Prior research has shown that understanding the fears and aspirations about the opponent reduces antagonisms towards the other and contributes to an acknowledgement of shared if differently experienced hardships. Personal stories encapsulate complex experiences in poignant form. Their analysis and dissemination in concerned populations contributes to a more differentiated understanding of the gap between individual aspirations and political polarization. Working with the oldest generations, the project prepares a discursive meeting ground for those whose lives began in the midst of hardened frontiers. A meta-project accompanies the two local research teams; it relies on the same methods as the primary project and illustrates how qualitative social and cultural researchers are by necessity entwined with their research sites, even in peaceful of times. The meta-project elaborates on the kind of reflexivity that has to be mustered in conflict situations to work toward cooperation across conflict lines while simultaneously maintain a stance of genuine empathy vis-à-vis field consultants. The research as a whole seeks to model for younger generations in Israel/Palestine as well as for other such conflicts an approach to defuse hardened political stances and transcend to the basis of common humanity.