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Peace in the Middle East. A wish, often uttered as a sigh. It is obvious that religion plays an important role in the context of the Middle East, more specifically in Israel. Even more so, religion is often pointed to as the cause of conflict. However, may it also contribute to resolving conflict? This monograph explores a unique peace initiative in Israel, that of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam, a community -a village- where Jews and Palestinians live together peacefully and equally. The author mainly focuses on the role of religion in the village and in conflict resolution. She tries to analyze the role of religion in the work of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam as well as Gandhi´s philosophy of Satyagraha and his ideas about religion and religious conflict. She finishes with a few thoughts regarding the question of what it can possibly teach us about the role of religion in conflict resolution in general.

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Theologian, teacher, and pastoral worker. She studied theology at the University of Utrecht, and is particularly interested in the question of how theology/spirituality may contribute to building bridges between people(s), cultures and religions. She holds a MA degree in religious studies and obtained her MA in teaching religion/philosophy of life.

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