Recognition
Recognition includes acknowledgement, appreciation, significance, dignity of self-worth, and regaining face (Redekop, 2002). Negative recognition leads to shame. Shame creates the need for positive recognition. Recognition is the mirror image of meaning (Redekop, 2002). It is meaning being appreciated and acknowledged by others.
Recognition gives voice. The desire is that the other will recognize us according to our own estimate of our worth (Redekop, 2002). The need for recognition begins with the Self but can be extended to those with whom one identifies or to those perceived as unjustly devaluing them. In the situation of supporting the under-valued, the need for recognition results in a passion for justice (Redekop, 2002).
Palestinians have a strong need for recognition of the pain and suffering they have endured at the hands of Israelis, the emotional and physical costs of being refugees and under siege for so many years. Being recognized as a victim is a common request when meeting Palestinians (Maoz, Steinberg, Bar-On, & Fakhereldeen, 2002; Salomon, 2002; Steinberg, 2004). Palestinians generally look towards the international community with the hope that the outside world will step in to correct the wrongs done to Palestinians by Israelis. When Palestinians meet Israelis, the need for recognition is the most common need desired to be met. Palestinians in encounter groups often need to first concentrate on the intergroup relations in order to move on to interpersonal relations as a way of recognizing their pain.
Israelis too have a need for recognition as being a victim of hatred of Jews for so many years. This is partly a need satisfier of the collective and partly in competition with Palestinians’ need for recognition as a victimized group and vice versa. When Israelis meet Palestinians, they are often left shocked by how Palestinians refuse to recognize the violence their people have committed or how it is rationalized. This creates a dynamic where Israelis recognize Palestinian suffering although initially with difficulty but Palestinians have a much harder time recognizing Israeli suffering whether past or present (Salomon, 2004a; Maoz & Ellis, 2006; Sonnenschein, Bekerman & Horenczyk, 2010).