Old Wars-New Paradigms:
A Need for Social Change of Western’s Perspectives
of the Middle Eastern Views of War and Peace

Souraya Hajjar
El Paso Community College

Patricia Ainsa
University of Texas, El Paso

Introduction
     Michel Aoun, a former Lebanese Prime Minister and Army General stated in the Wall Street Journal, that the world’s failure to adopt different paradigms by which Middle East problems can be fairly solved have produced and will continue to produce a vicious cycle of continuing conflict All life is equal and priceless; both Lebanese and Israeli. He further stated that “History will judge us all on our actions, and especially on the unnecessary death and destruction that we leave behind. If all human life is equal, and if there is a chance to save life and at the end of the day achieving the same result as can be achieved without the senseless killing, that choice should absolutely be made.” (Aoun, 2006)
Brief History of Political Conflict
     Middle-Eastern Conflict: In 1948, Israel was created as a country. Lord Belfour, in 1917, through a British mandate, gave the right for Israel to exist and make a land for the Israelis in Palestine. This creation did not accommodate for two countries to live side by side but only for Israel to exist and Palestine and Palestinians to fade. This conflict has been the essence of Middle Eastern conflicts and the reason for many surrounding countries to resent Israel. Some countries warred with Israel because it did not define its borders. Some countries are trying to regain their land from Israel. In the Middle East, many Arab leaders believe that if countries regain their land from Israel, and Palestinians have a minimum of human rights (such as lodging, food, schooling, and a piece of land) all countries will be able to live in peace with Israel and Israel with all countries.
      Both Israel and Arab countries deserve to live in peace and in security. Humans need to feel safe in their environment, home, or neighborhood. Poverty, injustice, and dominance of the strong over the weak create revolt and strong reactions against oppression. This reaction still exists in the Middle East today.
Current Events: A reporting of the same facts from different paradigms
     When the July 2006 war erupted between ‘The Party of God and Israel” in Lebanon, one author monitored the media TV channels to see whether there was any difference in fact reporting between American media and the Arabic channel Al Jazeera. The differences identified are found below:

1. The reason for the war:
   • CNN reported that the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah was the reason for the indiscriminate attack of bombs and shelling of Israelis on Lebanon as a whole.
   • Al-Jazeera reported, claiming as sources American and British written reports that the war by the Israeli government had already been planned for October 2006, and that the kidnapping of soldiers was used as an excuse to attack.
2. Who is Hezbollah?
   • For the Arabic world, Hezbollah is a resistance movement against the occupation of Israel to Lebanon’s southern region and all its movements or acts are justified to remove the occupation.
   • American media reports that Hezbollah is a threat to Israel without identifying the root causes for the conflict between Lebanon and Israel.
3. Reasons for Attack:
   • American media reports that the Israelis attacked all of Lebanon as a way to secure and defend themselves.
   • Al Jazeera reported that not all Lebanon was Hezbollah, so bombing bridges and attacking innocent civilians was not justifiable.
4. Double standard support of the United States for some countries:
   • Pictures and live reporting by American channels showed differences in media reporting and bias was evident even though the media had tried to show both sides of the conflict
   •  More conservative American media channels were completely biased. One channel made a derogatory statement that Arab children should never be compared to Israeli children.

Although just a few of the examples are presented, it is evident that many barriers need to be overcome; they are (1) learning about the source of the conflict in the Middle East, (2) understanding the different cultures present, and (3) the religion factor and its impact in the region. War and conflict are not conducive to any lasting peace or communication. It is paramount to educate others about the area, understand the cultures, and understand the religions so that everyone can make an informed decision and give unbiased reports about issues. A resistance entity to one group or country could be a terrorist entity to another group or country. To explain both sides is a challenging task which requires open thinking and rationalization of the reasons for the conflicts.
A New Prejudice
     Bishara Bahbah (2006) asks the question, “What do Japanese-Americans, Italian-Americans, German-Americans and Arab-Americans have in common?” All of these citizens have been perceived as a threat to U.S. national security during times of conflict involving the U.S. and their countries of origin. The terrorist murderers of 9/11 were not U.S. citizens. There is anguish among Arab and Muslim communities although few voice it for fear of reprisal. It is un-American to target an entire community of citizens because of an ethnic or religious background. National security, although necessary, should not be subjective or discriminatory.
Survey
     A survey questionnaire for the purpose of identifying whether bias by the American community is present was originated. It was randomly sent to twenty eight American Arab respondents from all over the United States. The survey is shared below.

Instructions: These questions are part of a research study about ethnicity, news media, and social change. Please answer to the best of your ability. This is a voluntary exercise; you have the right not to respond.
Please answer these three simple questions as soon as possible.

1. Have you been or are you currently targeted because of your ethnic or religious background? If so, give an example.
2. Are you or have you been targeted as a result of claims to the point of infringement of your rights as a US Citizen? Give an example
3. Are you targeted to the point of elimination or fear because you belong to an ethnic or religious group? Give an example.

Survey of Results and Further Research
     The collection of the survey results yielded seven of twenty-eight Middle-Eastern-American citizens claiming that they had experienced discrimination. The survey was distributed nationally via the internet. Early results indicated that more time is needed to receive data from those that have not responded.
     Due to the early indication of discriminatory perceptions and behavior towards Arab Americans, it was evident that educational intervention is needed. The authors piloted a seminar and evaluated change using the social change theory. Details of this educational intervention follow.
Method
     Two educational interventions were held for two different classes of students. The date and time of the first and second interventions were performed in the spring of 2007 in an academic setting.
     Thirteen respondents chose to participate. The classes were not studying about the Middle East, nor had they discussed possible prejudice previous to the educational intervention.
     The intervention program, lasting one hour, presented (1) an introduction to the problem, (2) a historical recount of the conflict, (3) delineation of the events leading to the war, and (4) a review of opinions regarding the media reports. All participants were voluntary, and questionnaires were distributed before and after the presentation. The Social Change Theory was utilized to explore the results of the pilot.
     Social Change Theory
     The premise of the Social Change Theory Application is that the understanding of cultures, communities, and religion will help mitigate the feeling of prejudice, bias, and ignorance. Weber, whose focus was not solely on overt behavior and events but also on how these are interpreted, defined, and shaped by cultural meanings that people give to them, i.e., interpretive understanding of social action, authored the Social Change Theory. Interpretive theories focus on ways actors define their social situations and the effect of these definitions on ensuing action and interaction. Change, itself, is the starting point for the interpretivists, and structure is a temporary by-product. In this study, authors are pinpointing the need for change in order for the biased media topics presented to be more fully understood and diminished. When external factors change, this does not automatically produce social change. Rather when people redefine situations regarding those factors and thus act upon revised meanings, i.e., alter social behavior, then there is social change.
 Results
     The questionnaires, which reflected the Social Change Theory, were analyzed using the pre-post assessment test comparison. The charts below reflect the results of the pre-post surveys.
       (See Pre-test Results Table)
       (See Post-test Results Table)
     Results of the pre-and post tests did not show any major difference between the pre-and the post regarding five of the six questions. It is suspected that this is because the intervention was not done at a later date but immediately after the pre-test; so TV channel choices and changes were not yet modified.
However, the fifth question” using percentage, how familiar are you with Middle-Eastern problems” showed an extreme increase in statistical significance (p=0.032). The pre-test mean was 41, and the post-test mean is 60 for an average increase of 19.
Further Suggestions
     Uniformity can destroy rather than promote and advance our civilization. A single world culture is not a desirable goal. Global education and the emphasis on global interdependence (global warming, global terrorism, global economy and trade, etc.) is needed in our public education. Americans have been economically and politically powerful in the global scene. This has affected the viewpoints of many American school children and college students towards other countries and people. U.S. citizens can be insular and poorly informed about media issues elsewhere. Teachers need to be aware of international concerns and controversies so that they can teach and act as informed citizens and participants of the global society. Multicultural concepts could be applied to the world community and the planet, with all its interconnections, natural resources, and people.
     Our school children and adult citizens could be:

1. perspective conscious-aware and appreciative of other viewpoints
2. aware of the state of the planet-global issues and events
3. cross culturally aware-understand world cultures (similarities and differences)
4. systemic awareness-global systems and their interrelationships
5. aware of participation options-possibilities for participating in local, national, international settings (Brown, 2002)

     Global cultures represent the authenticity and unique purpose of each community. Diversity can be a source of harmony, rather than a source of conflict (Ausburger, 1992).

Pre-test Results

Post-test Results

References

Aoun, M. (2006, July 31). History will judge us all on our actions. Cedar Sky. Retrieved September 16, 2006 from
       http://www.tayyar.org/tayar/articles.php article_id=16171&type=GMA
Augsburger, D.W. (1992). Conflict mediation across cultures: pathways and patterns. London: John Knox Press
Bahbah, B. (2006), August 6). Bias tearing at real fabric of America. The Arizona Republic, p. 3A.
Brown, S. C., and Kysilka, M.L. (2002). Applying multicultural and global concepts in the classroom and beyond.
       Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Theories: Retrieved September 4, 2007
       http://husky1.smu.ca/~evanderveen/wvdv/social_change/social_change_theories.htm