Social Justice Speaker Series Presents:
Universal Human Rights and Trauma in the Israeli-Palestinian Relationship:
Beyond Settler and Native to Citizen
Presenter: David Frank, Ph.D., Professor of Rhetoric at University of Oregon
Date: Thursday, December 11th, 2025
Time: 7:00–8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
Location:  Virtual via Zoom (Zoom Link: Emailed with ticket)
Cost:
FREE to attend
FREE CE for CPA Members (Log into account to access discount!)
$15.00 CE Processing Fee for Non-members
Continuing Education: Â Eligible for 1 CE
Abstract:
I suggest that a social-psychological approach to the Israeli-Palestinian relationship that is trauma-informed and anchored in universal human rights can help the global community and both people work through the problems they face. I draw on Michael Billig’s rhetorical approach to social psychology and Herbert Kelman’s Interactive Problem-Solving methodology. They converge on a central insight: social-psychological transformation occurs through structured dialogical processes. Billig’s argumentative thinking uses two-sided critical engagement and rhetorical criticism. Kelman’s problem-solving workshops employ linguistic tracking of pronoun shifts from “they” to “we,” emotional tone monitoring, and cognitive style assessment. Both challenge binary oppositions and create space for recognizing complexity, developing mutual understanding, and generating collaborative solutions to seemingly intractable conflicts. In addition to the Billig and Kelman line of research, recent scholarship in 2024 and 2025 identifies additional tools from social psychology designed to help address Palestinian and Israeli traumas. A social-psychological approach carefully and respectfully honors the traumas influencing Palestinian and Israeli actions and seeks to foster collaboration, acknowledging the need to envision a shared future, one that moves the relationship beyond settler and native to citizen.
Dr. Frank’s Recommended Reading:
Book:
General History
Scott-Baumann, Michael. The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine: From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace. The Shortest History Series. New York: The Experiment, 2023.
Palestinian Historians and Scholarship
Khalidi, Rashid. Palestinian Identity, New York: Columbia University Press, 1997, Khalidi, Rashid. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2020. Sald, Edward. The Question of Palestine. New York: Vintage, 1994,
Israeli Historians and Scholarship
Ben-Ami, Shlomo. Prophets without Honor: The 2000 Camp David Summit and the End of the Two-State Solution, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2022 Shilon, Avi. The Decline of the Left Wing in Israel: Yossi Bellin and the Politics of the Peace Process. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
Senor, Dan, and Saul Singer. The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World. First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition. ed. New York: Avid Reader Press, 2023.
Keeping Current:
Haaretz https://www.haaretz.
AlJazerra online https://www.aljazeera.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Integrate universal human rights frameworks with social psychological interventions to transform the Israeli-Palestinian relationship from patterns of mutual exclusion to shared citizenship models.
2. Explain 2 trauma-informed approaches to reshape the Israeli-Palestinian relationship that honor both peoples’ traumas without creating hierarchies of victimhood.
3. Identify 2 social psychological tools that can move both communities from binary opposition toward complex mutual understanding and recognition.
Research Citations
Fink, Oliver, Wilfried Graf, Shashanka Subrahmanya, Aadesh Salecha, and Johannes C. Eichstaedt. 2024. “The Language of Conflict Transformation: Assessing Psychological Change Patterns in Israeli-Palestinian Track Two Interactive Problem-Solving.” Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 17 (2): 130-52. https://doi.org/10.34891/svxv-s665.
Hirschfeld, Miriam J., and Aisha Saifi. 2025. “Truth and Reconciliation-a Dream, a Goal for Israelis and Palestinians?” Nursing Inquiry 32 (4): e70062. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin. 70062.
Reinhardt, Lukas, and Harvey Whitehouse. 2025. “Appeals to Shared Suffering in the Context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” PLOS ONE 20 (10): e0332197. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0332197.
Shulman, Deborah, Michal Reifen-Tagar, Noa Omri, and Eran Halperin. 2025. “Examining the Impact of Learning About a Resolved Conflict on Attitudes an Ongoing Conflict: Evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian Context.” Group Processes & Intergroup Relations: 13684302251319689. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302251319689.
Presenter Biography
David A. Frank, Ph.D.
Professor of Rhetoric, Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
David A. Frank serves as Faculty Ambassador for Academic Scholarship and Institutional Partnerships for the University of Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, bringing decades of expertise in rhetoric and political communication to his research on the need to turn from violence to argumentative reason. A Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon (USA) with eight books and over 50 scholarly articles to his credit, Frank’s collaborative research with Robert Rowland on Israeli-Palestinian discourse earned the prestigious Kohrs-Campbell Prize for rhetorical criticism. His work has attracted support from major national and international foundations including the National Endowment for the Humanities (USA), Mellon Foundation, National Science Foundation (USA), and Korea Research Foundation. Dr. Frank’s research has appeared in the Washington Post, Jerusalem Post, Al Jazera, as well as Fox News Now and The New Arab.
Professor Frank is married to Marjorie Enseki, a retired secondary school teacher. They have two sons, Michael, a graduate of Yale Law School, and Justin, an MSW graduate of the University of Southern California (both did their undergraduate degrees at the University of Oregon). Michael writes model legislation and provides legal analysis on progressive technology social policy issues for Reset.Tech. Justin oversees a trauma-informed mental health program at a residence for the unsheltered in Eugene, Oregon.
https://honors.uoregon.edu/directory/profiles/all/dfrank
Post-Webinar Evaluation Form:
Post-webinar evaluation form will be provided during the event and must be completed to receive a Continuing Education (CE) certificate.
Closed Captions:Â Live audio captions are accessible for virtual events. If you need additional disability-related accommodations, please contact us by email us at info@connpsych.org or by phone (860) 404-0333. Requests should be made at least two weeks in advance of workshop date.
Refund Policy: Participants may direct questions to CPA by email at info@connpsych.org or by phone at (860) 404-0333. Registrants may cancel and receive a full refund up to two-weeks in advance of workshop date. Â An administrative fee of $30 will be charged for cancellation of registration within two weeks of the workshop date (Social Justice events will not be charged an administrative fee). Please note, no refunds will be granted within 24 hours of workshop date.
Continuing Education Approval:
The Connecticut Psychological Association (CPA) is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer continuing education for psychologists. CPA maintains responsibility for the program and its content. CPA will issue certificates of completion. APA CE rules require that we only issue credits to those who attend the entire workshop. Those logging into the Zoom webinar more than 15 minutes late or logging off before the entire workshop is completed will not receive CE credits (i.e., partial CE credit will not be issued).
CPA GRIEVANCE POLICY:
The Connecticut Psychological Association (CPA) is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists. The CPA will comply with all legal and ethical guidelines for non-discrimination in promotional activities, program content, and in the treatment of CE participants.  While the CPA strives to assure fair treatment for all participants and to anticipate problems before they occur, occasionally grievances may be filed. In cases where a participant files a written or oral grievance, the following actions are taken:
If the grievance concerns the content of the workshop, a CPA representative will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, the CPA will either provide a credit for a subsequent CE offering or provide a partial or full refund of the CE fee already paid. Â Actions involving a credit or a refund will require a written note documenting the grievance for record-keeping purposes. The aggrieved individual need not sign the note. If the grievance specifically concerns the CPA, the CPA will attempt to arbitrate.
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