ALL THINGS THAT MATTER

“There are two Arab requirements that make the plan impossible.

1)   It requires giving away Jerusalem .   Jerusalem is the spiritual and emotional center of Israel .  This plan is a non-starter and the Arabs know it.

2)   The right of return means that Israel will accept as citizens a number of people greater than the current population who are currently trying to kill them.  This would be suicide.

There is also no reason to believe that the Arabs currently shooting at Israel will abide by any peace proposal short of the elimination of Israel . 

The “peace” plan is a publicity stunt designed to hoodwink the western press.  And apparently, it’s succeeded.”

These two emails represent a common thread that indicates that opinion is fixed and not subject to easy change.  What is uncertain is whether these ideas represent the majority or the fringe.  Fundamentalists tend to be more vocal in their opinions.  If they are indicative of mainstream thought, the road to peace in the Middle East may continue to be a dead end.  Where is the middle ground in these divergent views?  Are we destined to dealing with never ending conflict until such time as either side decides to use unspeakable weapons to implement a “final solution?”  I am not sure that the world has the luxury of letting this go on and on.  But, with these views, is there any wonder why there is no peace in the Middle East ?

To have peace, you must want peace.  I do not believe that the people of Iraq want peace.  Do Iraqi mothers want to see their sons and daughters killed by a suicide bomber?  Of course they don’t.  Do fathers want to see their families slain on a bus or as they shop at the local market or head out for school?  I sincerely doubt it.  Do the Iraqi people want war?  They say they don’t.  But do they want peace?

It is easy to say that the problems and the fighting in Iraq are between two or more sectarian groups.  Each group is vying for power or a greater share of the countries wealth and there is also a history of differences of religious opinion among these groups.  But do these factors alone account for the daily slayings and brutal murders?

People often blame their leaders for all kinds of heinous acts.  The German people blamed the Nazis for the Holocaust and it was not until recently that some level responsibility was taken by the people.  For that matter, in most cases of genocide, blame is always placed on the leaders, but rarely on the citizens.  During the American Civil War, did the populace support the positions of their respective sides?  Were German citizens really ignorant of the actions of their government?  Were only world leaders aware of the atrocities in Africa, the former Yugoslavia or the infamous killing fields? Can any government or faction operate without at least some acceptance of the people?

It might be the easy road to say that the people are helpless in the face of the weapons of a dictatorial regime.  And yet, history is replete with examples of people rising up to remove the yoke of their oppressors.  From every corner of the globe there has come a time when people have said “enough is enough.”  The great age of revolutions in the 18^th and 19^th centuries is chapters in history books.  People are not helpless, they never have been.  Almost every nation on earth has its example of people rising up to put an end to tyranny.

If people in Iraq truly want peace and an end to the constant violence they too would rise up against the terrorists.  If the Palestinians really wanted peace they would demand an end to the bloody internal politics that plague the Middle East.  Do they really want peace or does each side hope that their armies will be victorious over their rivals?  Perhaps support on the part of the people for rival factions is not overt.  But their inaction yields the same results.  We are all to blame for Darfur by our inaction.  We are all to blame for the millions that have died through ethnic cleansings and genocides. 

We hear all of the time that polls in Iraq blame the West in general and the U.S. in particular for all of their woes.  Of course these same people sat back and watched as Kurds in their own country were gassed and dissenters sent to be tortured and they watched as the women were raped.  Do they really want peace?  Does the average citizen in Iraq want the killing and violence to stop or are they secretly or even unconsciously hoping that their side will come to dominate their nation?  There is a lot of talk of what our leaders have done wrong, and rightfully so.  But let us not forget that we are all responsible for our own futures, and that includes the Iraqi people.