Deadlocks · trust lock
Distrust as premise
When the other side is evil by definition, nothing it does can count in its favour, and no agreement is possible.
What many Israelis fear
Every Palestinian gesture is taqiyya or a ruse; 'they only want to kill Jews'.
What feeds it: October 7; celebrations of attacks; payments to prisoners' families; incitement in media and schools.
What many Palestinians fear
Every Israeli warning, aid convoy or withdrawal is PR, pinkwashing or hasbara; Israel is evil and can't be trusted.
What feeds it: Civilian deaths in Gaza; settler violence; officials' statements; decades of occupation.
Which solutions it blocks
- Two states — No agreement survives if every act of the other side is read as a trick.
- Two states, one homeland (confederation) — Same.
- Local rule: clans, cities and cantons — Same.
- One democratic state with equal rights — Same.
- One state with equal rights that remains a Jewish state — Same.
Where a lock like this was broken
- People who met: the Parents Circle – Families Forum (bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families) and Combatants for Peace show that contact breaks the premise where arguments can't.
- Where there's contact, there's coexistence (see the theme).
Questions to sit with
- What could the other side do that would count in its favour, for you?
- If the answer is 'nothing', is your distrust a conclusion, or your starting point?