When Honor Trumps Basic Needs: The Role of Honor in Deadly Disputes within Israel's Arab Community

Author: Pely, Doron

Source: Negotiation Journal, Volume 27, Number 2, April 2011 , pp. 205-225(21)

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Abstract:

This article draws on the existing literature, interviews, and case study analysis to highlight the primacy of honor needs above health and safety needs in the context of honor killings and blood feuds among Israel's Arab community, including Muslims, Christians, and Druze. Assuming that individuals in conflict situations will generally act to satisfy more basic needs before they act to satisfy less basic needs, this article examines conflict contexts in which disputants perceive their honor to be a higher priority than their health and safety, and consequently, they tend to act accordingly to satisfy their perceived honor needs first, often ignoring obvious health and safety-related needs. Such insights could have important implications for scholars and dispute resolution practitioners studying and working within these conflict contexts.

Keywords: conflict resolution; honor; revenge; identity; needs; priorities; Arabs; Israel

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.2011.00303.x

Publication date: 2011-04-01