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Traditional Practices

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Gohar, Ali and Yousufzai, Hassan. Towards Understanding Pukhtoon Jirga.

The Pukhtoon peoples – that is, those who share certain ethnic roots and the Pukhtoon language – live in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. One of their longest standing cultural traditions or institutions is the jirga. It is a public assembly – involving political, legal, and social elements – for the settling of public and private issues and conflicts. In this booklet, Hassan Yousufzai and Ali Gohar introduce and explain the jirga for those not familiar with it. They began this project based in part on their experiences as Pakistani Muslims who arrived at Eastern Mennonite University to study conflict transformation – only a few days before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against targets in the United States. They ask how, in the era of globalization, contemporary people should treat ancient, indigenous institutions like the jirga. Should modern institutions simply overwhelm and push aside older institutions? Or, is there a way whereby modern, more codified systems can benefit from and work together with traditional systems? To explore all of this, they interviewed a wide range of individuals and groups with knowledge of and experience with the Pukhtoon jirga. Thus Yousufzai and Gohar document and present the dynamics of the jirga, discuss it as a peace-building body, characterize it as a grass-roots organization, and speculate on the future of the jirga.

Irani, George E. Islamic Mediation Techniques for Midde East Conflicts

Irani describes the problems of using western forms of conflict resolution in the Middle East. He describes the rituals of suhl and musalaha. In doing so, he stresses the need for cultural understanding in peacemaking processes.

Jabbour, Elias J. Echoes of Peace From a House of Hope

The Middle East has been and continues to be a region of intense, bitter, and violent conflict. Amid the conflict are certain movements or currents for peace and peacemaking. One of them is the House of Hope International Peace Center in Shefa-Amer, an Arab town in Galilee in Israel. At the time of writing this book, the town had a population of about 30,000 people made up of three different communities: Christians; Muslims; and Druze. The director of the House of Hope is Elias Jabbour, a Palestinian, Christian, Israel-Arab citizen with a vision for peace and peacemaking in a region of tension and conflict. The House of Hope was established in 1978. In this book Jabbour discusses the issues in the region, as well as the origins and aims of the House of Hope; voices of peace in the area and traditional Arab methods of conflict resolution and peacemaking; efforts to promote peace between Arabs and Jews; and challenges to peace. In addition to explanation and analysis of the situation and approaches to resolving conflicts, the book contains many resources. These include illustrative stories and experiences relating to actual conflicts and efforts to seek peace and reconciliation, letters and accounts from visitors to the House of Hope, and speeches given by Jabbour in various settings.

Nathan C. Funk. and Irani, George E. "Rituals of reconciliation: Arab-Islamic perspectives."

Many in the Middle East view conflict resolution as a Western program, and therefore as an outside, imposed practice with little regard for the indigenous (i.e., Middle Eastern) context. Irani and Funk contend that Western policymakers, in efforts to build peace in the Middle East, should engage in dialogue and peace strategies that take into account indigenous rituals and processes of reconciliation. Hence, in this paper they deal with a number of key topics: the limitations of the applicability of Western approaches to conflict resolution in non-Western contexts; traditional Arab-Islamic approaches to conflict resolution; and, in particular, Middle Eastern rituals of settlement and reconciliation. Furthermore, they draw out implications for policymakers and practitioners in promoting peace efforts.