Fratricide in the Holy Land : A Psychoanalytic View of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

This is the first English-language book ever to apply psychoanalytic knowledge to the understanding of the most intractable international struggle in our world today—the Arab-Israeli conflict. Two ethnic groups fight over a single territory that both consider to be theirs by historical right—essentially a rational matter. But close historical examination shows that the two parties to this tragic conflict have missed innumerable opportunities for a rational partition of the territory between them and for a permanent state of peace and prosperity rather than perennial bloodshed and misery. Falk suggests that a way to understand and explain such irrational matters is to examine the unconscious aspects of the conflict. He examines large-group psychology, nationalism, group narcissism, psychogeography, the Arab and Israeli minds, and suicidal terrorism, and he offers psychobiographical studies of Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat, two key players in this tragic conflict today. Library Journal Israeli political psychologist Falk (A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews) points to a dearth of material on irrational forces in the Middle East conflict. Writing clearly, with impressive historical and cultural insight, he analyzes both Ariel Sharon and the late Yassir Arafat as destructive charismatic leaders, in addition to the Arab mind and the Israeli mind, nationalism, and war. The central focus includes unconscious factors and mechanisms like denial, externalization, projection, splitting, and the problem of empathy, the inability to mourn, large-group psychodynamics, the psychology of suicidal terrorism the need for enemies. The result is a rich combination of history, culture, religion, and psychology-especially in relation to empathy, mourning, and projection. At times, Falk slips into jargon: Oedipal and narcissistic become shibboleths of an armchair sleuth using speculative Freudian logic rather than real evidence. Still, he effectively challenges political scientists who tend to ignore the psyche. General readers will enjoy a mostly engaging, articulate, and sensible overview that is remarkably nonpartisan. Recommended for history and psychology collections and all large general libraries.-E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction: A Duel in Quicksand......Page 12 1 A Review of the Literature......Page 17 2 Reality Is in the Eye of the Beholder......Page 27 3 Destructive Charismatic Leadership I: The Case of Ariel Sharon......Page 45 4 Destructive Charismatic Leadership II: The Case of Yassir Arafat......Page 82 5 Nationalism, Group Narcissism, and the Problem of the Self......Page 96 6 Psychogeography: The Unconscious Meaning of Geographical Entities......Page 112 7 Denial Is Not a River in Egypt......Page 121 8 Splitting, Projection, and the Need for Enemies......Page 127 9 War and the Inability to Mourn......Page 139 10 The Arab Mind......Page 147 11 The Psychology of Suicide Bombers......Page 168 12 The Israeli Mind......Page 183 Conclusion: Can the Conflict Be Resolved?......Page 189 Bibliography......Page 204 Index......Page 266 Annotation This book applies psychoanalysis to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Avner Falk makes a close historical examination to show that the two parties have missed innumerable opportunities for a rational solution, and examines the unconscious aspects of the conflict