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One of the reasons Israelis were so surprised by the October 7 attack is that Israel is a society of builders, while Palestinian society operates with a destroyer mindset, according to Dan Feferman.
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ILTV News Podcast | Can Palestinians Go from Destroyers to Builders?
(ILTV)
Speaking on the ILTV News podcast, Feferman, founder of Sharaka—a group working to shape a new Middle East through dialogue, understanding, cooperation, and friendship—shared his insights from a recent visit to Abu Dhabi with a group of Israelis. The group remarked on how the city resembled Gaza in some ways, but with one major difference: its diversity.
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“You see people dressed as they want,” Feferman said. “Some people are dressed incredibly traditional, and some people are very Western. You hear the call to prayer in malls, but you also see Western outlets selling lingerie and Western bookstores. You realize there is this other, alternative path that not only the Arab and Muslim world can take—but is taking.”
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Feferman developed the concept of “builders and destroyers” to help explain when Israel and moderate players in the region can collaborate—and when they cannot. He argued that Palestinians have repeatedly prioritized harming Israelis over building up their own society.
He pointed to Saudi Arabia as an example of a country undergoing a “fascinating” transformation of both Islam and society under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
“It’s a long process. It’s not an overnight one, but you see how to de-radicalize the population,” Feferman said. “I think the Arab world and the Western world need to understand this paradigm and help transform Gazan society—Palestinian society, whatever you want to call it—from a destroyer society to a builder.”
Only then, he said, will there be a fundamental shift in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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