Thimbleful of Thought

What I know about the Middle East you could put in a thimble and still have room for your thumb. I would never be mistaken for a diplomat. Far from it, I’m afraid.

All of my life I have been witness to an area of the world that seems, at best, unable and, at worst, unwilling to end the turmoil and pain it inflicts itself to.

The continual evasion of peace in the Middle East baffles me. When do people finally say enough is enough? Too many people have died. Too many children have grown up with hate.

There have been many great minds and statesmen in the last half of the 20th century. Churchill, Eisenhower, Stevenson, Ben Gurion, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dulles, Harriman, Nehru, Pope John XXXIII, King, Sadat and Meir are some of the people who had the respect, intelligence and courage to at least attempt a settlement. For whatever their reasons, they did not.

A hastily drawn up plan from the conscience stricken winning allies is one of the causes. The Arab countries refusal to give their Palestinian cousins some of their abundance of open space is another. Certainly, new borders and territorial authority were nothing new. Since the end of WW I, the lines of demarcation are drastically different than they were before the start.

It cannot be viewed as a religious strife. Jews and Arabs have lived together for 1000’s of years. They have both lived in common under outside oppression. Perhaps the founders of Israel made the mistake when they called their new country a “Jewish State”: Would the United States have survived if its founders had called it the “Puritan State”?

Any country or person who institutes the settlement of this ongoing animosity will only be described as having a decent and honorable character. Will there be a need for cooperation between the Western and Arab states? Absolutely. Will the United States need to withdraw from Iraq? Surely. It would also prove to be a tremendous pretext for an “honorable” escape from that turmoil. Will the Arab states have to carve out a sovereign territory for the Palestinians? Yes. Will the countries of the world need to aid and support and recognize the new accords? Positively.
All of the above, as far-fetched as it may be to believe possible, must happen. It will not without someone saying enough is enough! This must end and end now!

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

Mahatma Gandhi,