Towards the Implementation of Sulha as a Cultural Peacemaking Method for Managing and Resolving Environmental Conflicts among Arab Palestinians in Israel

Abstract

This article examines the prospects for applying sulha, the traditional Arab dispute- resolution process, to the management of environmental conflicts within the Arab Palestinian communities in Israel. As background, the sulha process is examined in terms of the modifications that would be necessary to adapt the process in order to create a new tool, labelled 'environmental sulha', for managing and resolving environmental conflicts. Successful adoption of such a tool could be a valuable contribution to peacebuilding within Israel where environmental conflicts are growing both in number and in severity. In the course of the research for this project, the Muslim religious scholars and figures interviewed were receptive to the development of an'environmental religious edict that could legitimate the creation and acceptance of such a tool.