EXAMINING PERSONAL BIAS

Transcription

1 NewsinReview September2014 TeacherResourceGuide ISRAELGAZACONFLICT2014 An escalation in violence erupted in early July between Israel and members of the militant group Hamas based in the Gaza Strip. This latest conflict allegedly erupted after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers. After seven weeks of violence, Egypt brokered a tenuous cease-fire but not before the death of people a majority of which were Palestinians. EXAMININGPERSONALBIAS Before proceeding with an examination of the Israel-Gaza conflict, rank yourself using the following six questions I have strong opinions/beliefs on who is at fault and who is right in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have friends with different ideas/beliefs/views than mine on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Don't Know I have enough information to make an informed decision regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I feel very emotional when talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I can understand why there are different perspectives on Israeli and Palestinian actions during the recent conflict in Gaza. There will never be peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people. Have you ever wondered how you came to believe in a certain viewpoint or why you hold a specific position on a topic? Your age, gender, socio-economic status, culture, what you have learned in school, what you view on the news and social media, and the conversations and relationships you have with friends, family, peers and co-workers are just some aspects of your life that impact your thinking and beliefs. NewsinReviewCBCLearningnewsinreview.cbclearning.ca 26

2 SEPTEMBER2014 ISRAELGAZACONFLICT2014 One of the greatest challenges to becoming a "good thinker" is to become skilled at identifying your own bias (viewpoint) and possible reasons for that bias. It is also important to be able to pinpoint bias in other people's thinking. Interestingly, scientific studies have noted that the ability to recognize one's own bias is much more difficult that recognizing someone else's. In order to grasp what social psychologists call cognitive bias, we need to consider some of the main areas of possible limitation in our thinking and everyone else's thinking. Accordingtorecentpolls,66 percentofcanadianssupport neithersideinthegazawar. Only21percentsidewithIsrael andbarelyhalfthat,10per cent,withthepalestinians. Whatdoyouthinkaccountsfor Canadian"neutrality"? SomeTypesofCognitiveBias Confirmationbias Do we listen more carefully to people we agree with? Do we only highlight sentences in text that we agree with? Do we follow social media of people who have the same background and beliefs as we do? Do we tend to have friends that have similar tastes and opinions? Social psychologists believe so. They also propose that we all have unconscious tendencies to ignore or dismiss opinions that threaten our own opinions. What do you think? Ingroupbias Ingroup bias causes us to overestimate the intelligence, abilities and value of the immediate group of people in your life. The dangerous drawback is that we tend to devalue or be suspicious, and even fearful, of others. Can you think of examples of ingroup bias in your class, school and community? StatusQuobias Humans tend to not like change or at least not a lot of change. Thus the decisions we make and ideas we hold often guarantee that things remain the same. This bias impacts everything from economics to politics. Can you think of examples where you exhibited status-quo bias? Where others exhibited it? Reevaluate Reconsider your answers to the six preliminary questions. Think about why you answered the way you did and note your reasons below each question. Consider how different types of bias may be at play in some of your beliefs regarding the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Talk with someone who had very similar answers to you. Talk with someone who had very different answers than you. Try to be mindful of confirmation bias throughout your class discussions on this and other controversial and sensitive topics. NewsinReviewCBCLearning Curio.ca newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 27

3 SEPTEMBER2014 ISRAELGAZACONFLICT2014 VIDEOREVIEW Previewing 1. Be sure you know some basic facts about the following before viewing the video: People: Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu Event: Six-Day War Organizations: Hamas, Palestinian Authority Whileviewing 1. What murders led to the increase in violence between Israel and Palestine? 2. What is the official White House position on the conflict? 3. "Hardline" settlers in Israel respect Benjamin Netanyahu as their Prime Minister. TRUE FALSE 4. How many Palestinians live in Gaza? 5. Israel has occupied the Gaza region since following the Six-Day War and did not withdraw its troops until. 6. Gaza has been governed by Hama since TRUE FALSE 7. What is the core issue for Hamas? 8. What is the core issue for Israel? NewsinReviewCBCLearning Curio.ca newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 28

4 SEPTEMBER2014 ISRAELGAZACONFLICT Palestinian civilians have the highest casualty rates in Israeli-Hamas conflicts. TRUE FALSE 10. There are lots of leaders trusted by both sides that are capable of negotiating a ceasefire. TRUE FALSE 11. How many UN schools have been struck by Israeli shells? 12. What nation brokered the ceasefire agreement? 13. How many Palestinians and how many Israelis were killed in the seven weeks of fighting? Postviewing Watch the video again without the sound. 1. What images are the focus of the report? 2. Which people are considered "experts" on the topic? 3. Does this seem a balanced report on the topic or is it biased in some way? Explain. 4. What further questions do you have regarding the conflict? NewsinReviewCBCLearning Curio.ca newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 29

5 SEPTEMBER2014 ISRAELGAZACONFLICT2014 GAZA:AGEOPOLITICALISSUE 1. Locate a map of Gaza that shows its position in the Middle East. What do you notice about its political borders that may impact the lives of people living there? 2. Research the population density, natural resources and economy of the Gaza Strip. How do you think the natural and human geography of Gaza impact the lives of people living there? BiasinMaps All maps have a "point of view" or bias. Consider the following maps and discuss point of view or bias. Determine who created the map, for what audience and for what purpose as a beginning of your analysis. a) The Gaza Strip (2007) created by The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs vox.com/2014/7/18/ /gaza-israel-map-blockade b) Violence escalates in Israel, Hamas battle created by MCT News Service, News from Abu Dhabi thenational.ae/world/middle-east/map-violence-escalates-in-israel-hamas-battle c) Communities in Israel's south under fire created by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Jewish National Fund d) Gaza rockets created by the Israel Defense Forces What map would you like to see that would assist you with your understanding of the Israeli-Gaza conflict? 40MapsthatexplaintheMiddleEast AnadditionalsitewithmultiplehelpfulmapsrelatedtoconflictintheMiddleEast. vox.com/a/mapsexplainthemiddleeast Didyouknow? Only26mileslongandsevenmileswideandsituatedbetweenIsrael,Egyptandthe MediterraneanSea,Gazaisoneofthemostdenselypopulatedplacesonearth. NewsinReviewCBCLearning Curio.ca newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 30

6 SEPTEMBER2014 ISRAELGAZACONFLICT2014 TWONATIONS,ONELAND Why is there so much violence between Israel and Palestine? Both sides have killed innocent civilians, including children, and have violated international law. For decades there has been a stalemate between Israelis and Palestinians, both claiming legitimate aspirations, each with painful histories. This conflict can essentially be considered a conflict about land and who has the right to inhabit and govern the land both today and in the future. Below are simplified answers to some of the common questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that invite you to research and investigate further. Whyarethesepeoplefighting? For over 120 years there has been violence between Israel and Palestine. Some argue that the conflict can be boiled down to a dispute over a small piece of geographically diverse land. Others see the conflict as rooted in religious and ancient historical issues. There have been many attempts to redraw the borders of this land in order to establish two independent states that satisfy the claims of both Jewish and Palestinian nationalists. WhatdoesIsraelwant? Israelis want to live in a safe homeland without fear of violent attacks on its citizens. Israel defines itself as a state of the entire Jewish people, wherever they live, not simply a state for its own citizens. Some Israelis want to keep all the occupied territories. Others think that their government should end the occupation with a two-state solution that returns some land to the Palestinian people. WhatdothePalestinianswant? Many older Palestinians were expelled from their homes in 1947 and 1948, inside what is now Israel but was then Palestine. Some of them would like to return to these homes. Many more Palestinians were expelled from their homes in the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 and have been sheltered in refugee camps for 40 years. Palestinians want human rights, equality, and a state of their own that would allow the return of refugees. Whatisatwostatesolution? In the past two decades, many versions of a twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been articulated and negotiated. The twostate solution requires that Israel and Palestine divide up the contested land based on pre-1967 borders and live side-by-side in peace and security as separate nations. Whatispreventingatwostate solution? Neither side seems willing or able to compromise. When ceasefires are negotiated, they are broken. When peace talks conclude, their terms are not observed and violence begins afresh. For the Palestinians, there seems to be a lack of unified leadership committed to peaceful negotiations. Israeli leaders and citizens are unwilling to reverse or even contain new settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since The issue of Palestinian refugees and their "right of return" remains a stumbling block in all negotiations and settlements. WhatisthePalestinianAuthority? The Palestinian Authority (PA) was created under peace terms of the Oslo 2 agreement in It is a quasi-governmental body with the NewsinReviewCBCLearning Curio.ca newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 31

7 SEPTEMBER2014 ISRAELGAZACONFLICT2014 authority to administer small parts of the occupied territories under overall Israeli security control. It has the authority to run day-to-day life for residents in Palestinian towns and cities but not to control the land. Any law passed by the PA's parliament is subject to approval or rejection by Israel. WhatisHamas? Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group that operates around the Muslim world. Since its 1987 founding, Hamas has waged war with Israel through suicide bombings and rocket attacks. It seeks to replace Israel with a Palestinian state and has repeatedly refused to recognize Israel as a legitimate state, although recently it has agreed to a truce. Some Hamas leaders have suggested they would be satisfied with a two-state solution. In 2006, at the urging of the U.S. government the Palestinian Authority held elections across the West Bank and Gaza for seats in the Palestinian legislature. Hamas won a slight majority. Hamas has fought a bloody civil war with the more moderate Palestinian Fatah party and has seceded from the Palestinian Authority to take control of Gaza independently from the West Bank. WhatroledoestheUNplay? After World War 1 and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Britain carved out and then ruled over the newly created state of Palestine. This ultimately doomed attempt at facilitating Arab-Jewish cohabitation in a single state ended in At that point, Britain "handed over" Palestine to the control of the United Nations. In 1947, the UN mapped out new boundaries for the new state of Israel and Palestine. The situation deteriorated into civil war. In 1948 the State of Israel was proclaimed and units of Arab armies invaded. Over Palestinian Arabs were expelled or fled the fighting. Since 1950, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has provided assistance and protection for five million registered Palestine refugees. Israel declared independence on more land than originally proposed by the UN. During the Six- Day War in 1967, Israel defeated Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip were taken from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan, and Golan Heights from Syria. The UN Security Council approved Resolution 242 calling for an exchange of land for peace. This resolution became the basis for every subsequent attempt at peacemaking and is widely recognized as the basis for a permanent settlement of the conflict. Since 1967, however, the United States has resisted the UN's position to place international law and UN resolutions at the centre of negotiations and has attempted to broker the peace largely on its own. Also since 1967, Palestinians have lived under an Israeli military occupation that the UN deems illegal. The UN recognized Palestine as an "observer state" on November 29, Israel, Canada, and the United States voted "no" against the Palestinian status in a vote (41 abstaining). WhatishappeninginGazain particular? Israel withdrew from the narrow strip of land that is Gaza in 2005, but it continues to control its airspace, water ways and border crossings (except the border with Egypt). An economic blockade has been imposed on the strip by Israel since the election of the Hamas government. Conditions of life, employment, medical care, and access to food and water have worsened over time and breed greater desperation and violence. NewsinReviewCBCLearning Curio.ca newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 32