The Sense of Belonging and Intergroup Attitudes In Asymmetric Protracted Ethnonational Conflict: East-Jerusalem Palestinian Students At An Israeli Academic Setting

This study examines the extent to which studying at an Israeli academic setting, and the encounter with Jewish society in this context are associated with attitudes of young Palestinians living in East- Jerusalem towards intergroup contact and cooperation. We use data collected through an online survey disseminated to East-Jerusalem Palestinian students completing one year of studies at a preparatory program in an Israeli academic institute. Findings suggest that following their studies in the program, students felt a high sense of belonging to the academic institute, which was in turn associated with favorable attitudes regarding East-Jerusalem Palestinians integrating in Israel and in the city of Jerusalem. In addition, we found that Palestinian students who, during the program, spontaneously interacted with Jewish students on campus expressed more positive attitudes towards cooperation and felt less socially distant from Israeli Jews. These findings are discussed in the broader context of Jewish-Palestinian relations.