Submitted by popo, Nov 29, 2006 16:41

Why not try again?

Because entire world suffers from a failure to connect the dots of history. A renewed effort is in itself, an oversimplification of the problem and a shameful willingness to ignore the lessons of history. A renewed effort suggests that perhaps this time the pieces with which we work can, under some new rearrangement, form a cohesive whole.

They cannot.

Deals between nations assume that the leaderships of those nations share a social contract with their people. Such social contracts are weak to say the least, in the Arab nations of the Middle East. Even in a best case scenario (a completed peace process), resulting agreements would be doomed by pre-existing factionalization within Palestinian society.

Furthermore, the so-called "Right of Return" is one hell of a deal-breaker. The very acceptance of the existence of Israel is also a deal breaker for most Palestinians. Philosophically, the use of violence against civilians is almost universally held among Palestinians (and most Arabs according to multiple surveys) as a justifiable and morally excusable avenue for voicing political dissatisfaction. A shared understanding of the events of history does not exist in the region. (The levels of historical revisionism in the media -- particularly but not solely the Arab media -- are shocking). Worse, the Koranic concept of "Hudna" and its historical context is (amazingly) still not understood by the western media, and shockingly, by most of the Israeli leadership itself.

To try again is both to diminish the mighty (yet failed) efforts of those who have tried before, and to give those failures their due respect.

This is not to say that peace is impossible. But before there is peace there must be a unified and stable government within Palestine. This process cannot be rushed. "Nation building" is another concept that as history reminds us, is doomed to failure.

Ultimately peace will one day be possible. But only when the populations of the Middle East hold peaceful coexistence above all else. Currently, they do not. And sadly -- we'll have to walk through fire before they do.

Idealism is a beautiful thing. But idealism in the face of a proven track record of failure is foolhardy and only serves those forces in society who benefit from one more bout of Jihad.

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