What is Delegitimization?
Delegitimization refers to the categorization of groups in extremely in negative social categories. In doing so, delegitimization withdraws authority from other entities. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the patterns of ethnocentrism, ingroup bias, and a strong collective identity culminate in the delegitimization of the conflict outgroup. Both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis use delegitimization to explain the threat that the other group poses against it. These explanations are ultimately used to justify violence and harm against the other group (Bar-Tal, 74).
A child walks down a street behind an armed Israeli soldier
Attribution: Rusty Stewart
Source – goo.gl/hD0M2z
Sources of Delegitimization
Jewish Israelis believe that Palestinians strive to annihilate Israel and establish a Palestinian state (Bar-Tal, 74). They view violent acts by Palestinians, including protests, participation in the Independence War, and other terrorist activities, as evidence of this goal. As a result, they may delegitimize Palestinians by labeling them as primitive and barbaric (Bar-Tal, 75). By dehumanizing Palestinian dissidents in this way, Jewish Israelis justify the widespread violence that they commit against the Palestinians.
Palestinians view Jewish Israelis as occupants who forcefully seized their land and neglect their existence and national aspirations (Bar-Tal, 74). An extreme threat is that of Jewish Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and a possible expulsion of the Palestinian population from their lands. Thus, Palestinians may label Jewish Israelis as colonialists and oppressors (Bar-Tal, 75). To protest, the Palestinians delegitimize the Jewish Israelis in part to defend the violent forms of protest that they enact against them.
Graffiti on a building wall. The first line means “Death to Israel,” while the second line means “Free Palestine”
Attribution: Jesse Millan
Source – goo.gl/rhglqN
Ultimately, extreme violence only causes conflict groups to further delegitimize their enemies, which leads to more violence. Consequently, delegitimization induces a vicious cycle of dehumanization and violence that adds to and exacerbates conflict. By understanding the psychological phenomenon discussed in this section (ethnocentrism, ingroup bias, and collective identity), researchers hope to be able to identify possibilities for intervention to work towards achieving peace.