Religious Approaches to Conflict Resolution

It is increasingly becoming evident that for peace and conflict resolution approaches to be effective and sustainable they must take into consideration the religious traditions of the communities involved. As such, religions have direct impacts on the way peace is conceptualized and the way conflicts are resolved in different societies, because they embody and elaborate upon the highest morals, ethical principles and ideals of social harmony. In addition, most of the territorial and national conflicts in the world have an  embedded religious nature, and this aspect makes such conflict more difficult to manage and resolve.

For that reason, conflict resolution scholars and practitioners must take into consideration the religious and traditions of the communities to address conflicts involving them, especially in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Although the current image of religion is often associated with conflict and violence, in fact, notions of peacebuilding are deeply embedded in the religious vision of the communities and religious leaders have developed various approaches and tools to address conflicts. Exploring different perspectives religious conflict resolution approaches, this course will explore principles, values, and practices of peace and conflict resolution rooted in religious traditions. This is an interactive course in which students are expected to engage with the ideas and thoughts presented in the class through the study of religious texts, dialogue, and theoretical academic research.

Theoretical and practical aspects of the religious role in conflicts and conflict resolution will help us to better understand the sources of conflict and how religious texts, cultures and communities deal with conflicts and hopefully tips on how they can be solved.

The final goal of this course is to conduct in class a Simulation play of negotiating the future of the Jerusalem Holy Compound within the framework of the Jewish Israeli and the Muslim-Palestinian conflict.