Studio 60 on the Gaza Strip
So…
The Israelis are terrified that the Arab world wants to “drive the Jews into the sea”. Inflaming their fears is the fact that the above quote is real.
The Palestinians are terrified that the Israelis want to slaughter them all and steal their land. Their fears are inflamed by the fact that, well, they used to own all of what is now Israel, parts of what are now Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Naturally, there is going to be tension. The awful, tragic, asinine, terrible thing is that since both sides are terrified of extinction, leaders cannot gain prominence unless they are willing to spill blood. A failure to respond in kind to the “aggression” of the “other side” is an unacceptable weakness.
And so within a few weeks we’ll see a ceasefire. And 6 months or a year from now, the whole sorry cycle will start up again. Where are the underlying conflicts, and how can they be solved? Until we answer those questions– until one side understands why the other side is terrified– we’re going to keep seeing death.
Bah. Happy Friday, everyone.