Foolish circling, wise peace

The circling that Israel and Palestine are doing, right now, is so remarkably foolish and futile, it is amazing that we all watch it and take it more seriously than it deserves.

Hamas wants acceptance without changing ideology

Does Hamas really believe that witholding recognition of Israel's right to exist will make their neighbor to the east go away? It would be irrational in the extreme to believe so.

Does Israel really believe withholding support for a Palestinian state offers any viable path to a more permanent peace with their neighbors to the west? Obviously not, to any empirically-grounded observer.

So what is all of this about?

It is about the dubious and deeply flawed notion that if peace efforts by moderates are supported unflinchingly by the hardline efforts of those willing to use military force then a resolution will be crafted favorable to the party who can force terms in their direction. Both parties, presumably. Kind of funny and stupid, when you think about it.

The bottom line between Israel and Palestine is now as it always has been. You need two partners more genuinely committed to peace and ending murder, death, and chaos in the lives of innocent Israeli and Palestinian citizens than the power games designed to acquire more land or concessions so that the collective egos of the various parties are not wounded with the unchangeable fact that neither party will get everything they want in a final peace agreement and that all of the pain and heartache of the last 100 years will only be resolved through a commitment to peace and reconciliation.

You need two parties negotiating peace in good faith. You need some kind of security agreement that will arrest or kill any combatants still threatening the lives of innocent Israelis and Palestinians. And everything else is gravy.

To anyone who really cares about ending the bloodshed and not playing power politics, that is.

Which begs the question:

Is there anyone in Israel or Palestine more committed to ending the deaths of innocent civilians than to the power politics?

We shall see.

Love

You know what holds humanity up most?

That we are all just too foolish and cowardly to live up to our values. Or to face honestly that we do not.

How is it possible for a people so premised around Christian values spend 10 years rationalizing why they should not have to live up to Christianity's central premise: forgiveness, love, and compassion for our neighbors?

When you take a step back from it, it is both funny and sad all at once.

And the truth is that there is and never will be any real progress until we get over it.

I see slow, faint glimmers of hope. We're getting there. Just excruciatingly slow.

However long it takes, I suppose.

That's why forgiveness and compassion are so important.

Because we are the ones who, in the end, will need it most.

Luckily, love always finds a way. Always.