Challenging the boundaries of Identity: One state for Israel/Palestine

In a globalised and interrelated world, why are identities still that important? How can they become the cause of gross human rights violations? Are they suitable of changes and deconstruction? And, finally, can the analysis of such identities be useful in understanding and solving such a protracted conflict as the Israeli/Palestinian one? Keeping these questions in mind, addressing the problem of conflict resolution in divided societies, this work aims at shifting the attention on the identity issue in order to discuss the possibility of innovative and imaginative resolution. The analysis takes into account the complexity and plurality of the concept of identity and points out the central role of collective memories and hegemonic narratives in the construction of the “imagined communities”. Furthermore, the discussion follows the possibility of “re-thinking” the Israeli/Palestinian issue, in an identity-centred perspective. Taking into account the relevance of the past constructions of the conflicting identities, the possibility of reshaping the Israeli national identity is explored, developing a pattern for the coexistence in a Israeli/Palestinian state.