Getting from Violence to Peace: Lessons of the War in Gaza

The war between Israel and Hamas has been one of the most intense and violent struggles since the end of World War II.  How can Israelis and Palestinians live together peacefully after so much bloodshed and anguish?  Here we will discuss what can be learned from the war in Gaza and explore possible scenarios for postwar reconciliation.

Richard E. Rubenstein is University Professor Emeritus at George Mason University and is a former director of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. He is the author of ten books on understanding and resolving social conflicts, including Resolving Structural Conflicts: How Violent Systems Can Be Transformed (2017).  His books on religion and conflict include When Jesus Became God (2000), Aristotle’s Children (2004), and Thus Saith the Lord: The Revolutionary Moral Vision of Isaiah and Jeremiah (2006). His study of justifications for war in the United States is Reasons to Kill: Why Americans Choose War (2010).

Richard was educated at Harvard College, Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Law School, and holds an honorary Litt.D. degree from the University of Malta. His current work in progress includes The Age of Apocalypse, a book about conflicts between Christians, Jews, and Romans in the first two centuries C.E.  Richard lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Dr. Susan Ryerson, and is active in work for peace and social justice.