New Book on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Provides Compelling Psychological Perspective

New Britain, CT: As renewed hatred pumped the people of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon in summer 2006, fueling a flurry of bombings, kidnappings, and murders, author and Professor Moises Salinas continued to conduct interviews and his research in those nations for his new book on the psychology of this, the longest conflict of the modern era.

The psychology professor explains: "This conflict, that has been raging more than 70 years, is irrational. While in recent years both groups have basically agreed on the broad parameters of a peace agreement, the fight still rages nonetheless. Politicians fail to see that the obstacles to achieve a solution are not as much political as they are psychological."

Research - and interviews with residents - shows that just as much as disagreements over borders, refugees, and settlements, both parties are kept hurting each other because of psychological factors including mistrust, hatred, fear, stereotypes, and prejudice. Dr. Salinas shows us how the hatred and mistrust were created and persist for the populace, with interviewees ranging from an Israeli right wing settler and a Palestinian militant to commoners on both sides simply the victims of that violence.

This book includes compelling, easily readable reviews of the psychological research regarding Israeli-Palestinian relationships, including chapters on stereotype and prejudice; violence, extremism and terrorism; posttraumatic stress; and reconciliation, mediation, and peacemaking.

Dr. Salinas is a Professor of Psychology at Central Connecticut State University. He earned his undergraduate degree at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, and is the author of a previous Greenwood Title, the critically praised: The Politics of Stereotype: Psychology and Affirmative Action.

BOOK INFORMATION:

Title: Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain: The Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Author: Moises F. Salinas, Ph.D.
List Price: $49.95 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)
Publisher: Greenwood/Praeger Publishers
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99005-3
Publication Date: June 2007

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Available at Barnes and Noble:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780275990053&itm=1

To contact the Author: salinasm@ccsu.edu