The heart of the matter

Jim Hoagland finally gets to the heart of the matter.

Awash in Unintended Consequences

"Israel's long occupation of Palestinian territory has helped produce the cynicism and weak leadership on both sides that confound would-be international shapers of peace and moral rectitude. Outsiders cannot resolve this conflict: Only an Israeli decision to end that occupation in fast order can lead to the security Israelis need and deserve, and the dignity Palestinians seek through a state of their own. That is the broader, more vital decision that Netanyahu needs to make."

It is a bit more complicated than that. Israelis will need a security partner in Palestine who will cooperate in arresting or killing terrorists who will not end their murder of Israelis. Palestinians need a state. The two states will need to develop workable ways to share Jerusalem, religious sites, scarce water resources, etc. Security will be needed for those Israelis who settle in Palestine and Israeli settlers should be put on notice that they settle at their own risk. Israelis will need to address right to return issues for Palestinians with family members murdered and forced from their homes in Israel.

And much time and healing will need to take place. A truth and reconciliation process like the one in South Africa and East Timor might facilitate this better.

But the truth is that the heart of the matter in the Middle East as in most difficult political issues is for people to have the courage to do the hard thing rather than fiddling around the edges of the cowardice of those who posture as tough in lieu of the genuine courage that would end their ugly legacies.

This is the heart of the matter on almost every political issue, is the truth. Various partisans not wanting to face honestly their ugly and abusive legacies and the bitterness and cycles of recrimination they inspire.

And the situation in the Middle East symbolizes the cowardice and failures of the world at large better than any issue we face today.

There is only one way through. A commitment to a resolution. And nothing else will ever, ever, ever end the murderous and tragic legacy that Palestinians and Israelis have heaped on one another until they decide to seek resolution of the pain that a hundred years of murder and tragedy has inflicted on their populations.

And the truth is that doing so takes courage that most people in the world, right now, nevertheless in Israel and Palestine, have rationalized that they just cannot find in their hearts.

While they watch the world burn down around them in consequence.

The only way through is the path of courage. On every issue. From here until the end of humanity.

And the path of courage is one of freedom, of conscience, and of our highest liberal ideals, an end to the legacy of manipulation and intimidation and power as a means of circumventing more honest resolution of each of these very serious matters of the heart.

Until Israelis and Palestinians find the courage to forgive their murderous pasts, their family, friends and neighbors will continue to die on the alter of their cowardice.

The same is true of most very serious matters of the heart in the world today. As Jim's headline alludes to, until we face the very sad and ugly unintended consequences of our legacy of trying to force resolutions that only genuine commitments of the heart can honestly resolve, we will continue to fail on almost every single major and minor issue we confront.

All so we do not have to face our own cowardice.

It is sad. Tragic, in the case of Israel and Palestine.

But it is not hopeless.

Because no matter how long we fail to make the more honest choice, the choice of courage sits in front of us like a child waiting patiently for its mother to claim it.

We just need to decide if we will choose the path of courage or not.

And, until we do, we can expect to reap what we sow and live with the consequences, in the meantime.

That is the heart of the matter.

May we choose wisely.