Is language key to resolving the Israeli-Arab conflict?

Catégorie : Zones frontières et langues du voisin

Source: The Conversation, January 16, 2018

Authors: 


Stanley Dubinsky and Harvey Starr are members of a consulting firm called ConflictAnalytiX LLC.

According to a 2017 Pew Research Center poll, many people believe language is “the core of national identity.”

More than 70 percent of the population of the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan agree on this. And yet, as scholars of linguistics and political science, we know that people pay too little attention to language, while overemphasizing religion, history and culture, when identifying sources of conflict.

In contrast to many other factors, language is deeply rooted and not easily swept aside. Nowhere is the role of language in conflict more evident than the Middle East. These conflicts frequently infringe upon the rights of linguistic minorities to use their languages freely and without prejudice. Read more... >>>>