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From: gary@neit.cgd.ucar.edu (Gary Strand)
Newsgroups: trial.talk.politics.peace
Subject: Re: Peace?  Yes, fight for peace, among other things.
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Date: 1 Mar 91 05:28:29 GMT
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> Jim Edwards-Hewitt

> Do you really think that "Me and my group versus the Other and Its group"
> explains the wars between the Arabs and Jews better than the fact that
> Israel is essentially a colony of European Jews?

  Yep. Enmity between Jews and Arabs goes back much farther than Europe as
  an entity.

> Would you say the cause of the long history of war in Europe is
> "tribalism"?

  Yep.

> "Me and my group versus the Other and Its group" *describes* the history of
> war in the Middle East because it describes war anywhere.  It doesn't
> *explain* anything, because all it says is "There are different groups that
> don't get along, so they fight."

  There are many things that can cause tribalism, and many things that cause
  those causes. You can't synthesize it down and say "Aha! *This* is *the*
  reason humans fight each other." I'm not attempting to do so. But what I
  am pointing out is that the identification process that humans make (as 
  do animals) with My Group, and therefore Others not of My Group are dif-
  ferent (and attempts are made to destroy the Different) is an important
  thing to consider when analyzing conflict. Do you disagree?

--
Gary Strand                           There is only one success -- to be able
Internet: strandwg@ncar.ucar.edu      to spend your life in your own way.
Voicenet: (303) 497-1336                                 - Christopher Morley