Breaking Besieged Narratives: Toward a Different Palestinian-Israeli Future

Drawing on my two decades of work as a Palestinian peacebuilder and a PhD alumna of the Carter School in Conflict Resolution (2019), my presentation reflects on a year of facilitating joint political imagination workshops for Palestinians and Israelis following the catastrophic events on, and war, since October 7th 2023. Conducted through the Land for All peace initiative, these workshops take place amid unprecedented violence, deepening dehumanization, and profound collective trauma on both sides.

The workshops engage participants in critically examining the besieged consciousness imposed by the conflict—a mindset that narrows political imagination, reinforces zero-sum narratives of “either us or them,” and sustains a sense of powerlessness by framing the conflict as inherently unsolvable. Through a carefully facilitated narrative process, participants are invited to move beyond victimhood and despair, reclaim agency, and imagine the future they seek for themselves and their families without predetermined limitations.

Central to this process is the collective exploration of how the “other” appears—or is absent—in these imagined futures, and what shared responsibilities, principles, and moral commitments are required to move toward a just and inclusive reality. The workshops trace the evolution of individual and collective narratives as participants grapple with past injuries, collective pain, and moral accountability, while gradually expanding the boundaries of imagination to include the other within a shared future.

This presentation examines the challenges and opportunities inherent in this delicate facilitation process and highlights the transformative potential of narrative work and political imagination in shifting from a besieged mindset of victimhood toward shared agency, responsibility, and commitment to an equal and just future for both peoples. The presentation engages deeply with peacebuilding work in Israel–Palestine in the aftermath of the catastrophic events and war since October 7, 2023, offering critical insights into peacebuilding within a context marked by large-scale civilian devastation, mass loss of life, profound collective trauma, and the consolidation of structure of domination.

Speakers:

• Fakhira Halloun PhD – Carter School Alumna; Director of Palestinian Partnerships, Land for All Initiative
• Adina Friedman, PhD. Carter School Alumna; Peacebuilder and Adjunct Professor