''הקרן המפחידה בישראל'' שלחה את הפסיכולוגים של הגירוש  

For Immediate Release
Contact: Naomi Paiss
202-513-7824
[email protected]

August 8, 2006

Experts in 'Constructive Struggle' Think Topic Timely, Essential

Washington, D.C. As the crisis in Israel wears on, two Israelis who are internationally recognized specialists in non-violent confrontation and "constructive struggle" will lead a symposium at the convention of the American Psychological Association in New Orleans . The panel is scheduled for Saturday, August 12th at 12 PM in Room 35 of the New Orleans Convention Center.

Exactly one year ago, the Israeli army and police conducted a withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza . Because they knew that this was a contentious and potentially violent issue and a difficult assignment for the soldiers, the New Israel Fund arranged for two Israeli psychologists -- Haim Omer, PH.D., psychology professor at Tel Aviv University , and Nahi Alon, clinical psychologist and co-director of The School of Buddhist Psychology in Tel Aviv -- to train both frontline police and soldiers.

Drs. Omer and Alon, who are internationally recognized for their expertise in the principles of nonviolent conflicts and intervention, played a key role in the disengagement despite initial distrust of their techniques by IDF and police leadership. The army and police certainly used the psychologists' research: the end result was an evacuation of thousands of settlers with few outbursts of violence and no loss of life, and police and soldiers demonstrated unusual restraint in the face of extreme verbal provocation.