Trilateral Project | martin-springer

Hearts of Flesh – Not Stone: Does Meeting the “Suffering of the Other” Influence Reconciliation in the Middle of Conflict?

PI: Professor Shifra Sagy (Ben Gurion University of the Negev) with Professor Martin Leiner (Jena University, Germany) and Professor Mohammed Daoud Dajani (Wasatia, East Jerusalem). Project supported by the DFG (900,000 Euro).

The project title “Hearts of Flesh – Not Stone” is a reference to an image in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (36:26). The image, which is significant for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim cultures, gives insight into the central questions of this project which sought to understand the movement of individuals and groups from lesser to greater willingness for reconciliation. Working in a transdisciplinary manner, the team worked to deepen the understanding on how encountering the other may possibly lead to greater willingness to reconcile. The project analyses individuals and groups experiencing the “suffering of the other” as a means for understanding how and why groups may become more or less open to reconciliation. This single question formed the focus of the project, which was addressed via three theoretical/methodological approaches: encountering the suffering of the other (ESO) “experientially,” analyzing the ESO through social psychological experimentation, and conceptual analysis of the ESO through theological, sociological, and political disciplines. The team at Ben Gurion University of the Negev focused on the experiential encounter.

Below are some photos from trips taken as part of the project. Students participated in a year long course actively participating in the research. During the course and field study trips the Israeli students learned about the other – including hearing personal stories, collective narratives, and learning about the theoretical aspects for this project.