ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on social work practice in Israel in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is divided into five sections. The first section begins with a brief description of the history between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Domestic complexities as they relate to the conflict will be reviewed as they too have bearing on the conditions that impact upon and are impacted by the broader context. Three peace-related practice initiatives that Israeli social work professionals and academics have engaged in over the last three decades will be presented in the second section of the chapter. The first initiative, spearheaded by social workers in 1993, involves the development of rights-based community practice centers established in impoverished communities throughout the country. Based upon a conceptual framework that addresses the link between inequality, human rights and peace-building, this approach, it is argued, has advanced the social and economic rights of multicultural communities within the country that heretofore were alienated from one another, while simultaneously promoting partnerships with Palestinian and Jordanian social work professionals who are implementing the model within their own communities.
