What must happen to make peace between Israelis, Palestinians?
Is peace on the way in the Middle East? Here’s what today’s Associated Press story said:
After months of frantic diplomacy, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared before a conference of some 50 countries and international agencies that they were intent on achieving what has eluded their predecessors for decades: bringing peace to peoples with clashing dreams and conflicting claims to the Holy Land. They set themselves an ambitious deadline - December 2008, before President Bush’s term ends.
Note that the previous paragraph highlighted the decades of failed peace negotiations. You can read up on some of that on Wikipedia’s site here.
What do you think must happen to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians? Is a December 2008 deadline reasonable? And do you have any reason to think this effort will get any further than past efforts?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
There is no chance in Hell of there ever being peace when one side only wants the destruction of the other side.
Yeah, not gonna hold my breath to see the Seed Of Abraham, so to speak, living in love and unity anytime soon.
I’m not holding my breath, either. BUT, to make it work, I see three things that absolutely must happen:
1. All of the major Islamic states in the middle east (not just the Arabs: Iran is not Arab, it’s Caucasian) need to drop the insistence that Israel has no right to exist.
2. The Islamic states need to find a way to deal with the crazies who won’t want to accept item 1 above.
3. Israel, also, needs to find a way to deal with the “Eretz Israel” movement, which demands that Israel establish it’s boundaries in compliance with the Biblical imperative “from Dan to Beersheba”.
The above with have to start with the existing leaders across the board, all of them knowing that by doing so they are painting targets on their chests for probably assassination (Sadat and Rabin anyone?)
Additionally, someone (Bush?) will have to act as an honest broker and head-knocker.
Uh, when it comes to the role of ‘honest broker’, I’d say our President
in this matter, and in the Middle East, has no credibility.
Hard to boil down a thousand years of conflict into a blog. I think what would make the Jews happy would be to hold on to Jerusalem and be left in peace while allowing Muslims in to worship and work. I think what would make the Palestinians happy would be to allow Jews to visit to worship from wherever the Jews may be living.
Religion is sure a funny thing sometimes. Such power to lift the spirits of mankind, and at the same time, keep them in a dangerous and violent ignorance.
Golda Meir said it - there will be peace in the Middle East when the Palestinians decide they love their own children more than they hate Jews.
Kurt: If we are reincarneted 100 years from today, You will be asking the same question. I’ll give you the same answer. Religious wars never end.
How can there be peace between people that place their religious concepts above life itself? (Especially when those religious concepts host leadership that pretends benevolence while coveting power and money.) If we didn’t have a constitution seperating church and state and a fairly affluent society, our own religious fanatics would be killing each other right here. It’s bad enough they keep trying to tell our government what to do.
One gets the feeling their won’t be peace in the Middle East until the last man standing. What’s worse, how can a foreign leader, notorious for warmongering, broker peace between religious fanatics that really don’t want any? It probably has the same effect as inviting someone like Idi Amin to host the peace conference.
I agree with the three points made by hs (#3) but Bush as the powerbroker? Not likely. Frankly, this stand-off has been going on for so long, I’m not real hopeful for a solution. Blood feuds–and that’s where the Middle East is–are funny things. It doesn’t matter if the participants even remember how it started: there are plenty of more recent “incidents” to fuel the fires. That’s why I also agree with Meg (#6.) Golda Meier hit it right on the head. I heard a Palestinian woman say approximately the same thing, in that it’s about the families and the kids and the future and that’s why the nonsense on both sides has to stop. (Maybe we should have women from both sides ironing this out?) Until the participants realize that it’s about their future welfare, not about the enemy, there can be no lasting peace.
For peace, 4 things must happen…
1. Hell must freeze solid, not just a thin sheet of ice on the surface.
2. The Cubs must win back-to-back World Series.
3. The Israelies must give the terrorists everything they have, and then commit suicide.
4. The US will have to pay the terrorists billions of dollars for our support of Israel, and the pain and suffering we caused them by doing so.
But seriously, there will not be anything more than about a year-long temporary peace in Israel. That will happen when The anti-Christ is showing the World what kind of power he has, and that he should be elected as World ruler. It’ll be a pivotal move in his ascention to the throne, as it’s the only time since 1948 that there’s been peace in Jerusalem. Of course, the peace won’t last once he’s gained control, and he will then try to destroy the small Nation.
True, lasting peace in Israel will only happen when Christ returns to reign on Earth as the Messiah. Only the Prince of Peace can bring the sort of peace that’s needed there.
God save Israel.