In the days things are supposed to change, they stay the same

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! I'm happy to say that I am well and finally back to normal, with just a few sniffles. I hope the holidays and the new year have seen you well.

I am disturbed by what is going on in Israel, even if I am not surprised. The Palestinians started this course by electing Hamas to represent them and by not taking the outrage of Israel in response seriously. When they chose a group to represent them who has the destruction of Israel as one of the tenets in their charter, they made a statement. And by not rising up as a people and holding Hamas accountable and in check, they signalled that they did not disagree with what Hamas was doing. Hamas' leader said over the weekend, as he called for the Palestinian people to rise up, that the actions of Israel in killing Plaestinian children and innocents legitimized the killing of Israeli children and innocents. In this statement, he basically said that the bombing they were conducting and its resulting civilian casualties were not legitimate before, but that now they are because Israel is doing the same thing they have been doing but on a grander scale. Does anyone else see what is wrong with this?

The Palestinians have stood by with their heads in the sand and then as lambs to the slaughter in all this and Israel has done its usual overwrought response which does nothing but create international outrage and reinforces the siege mentality the Palestinians already feel. The actions of both sides are yet another step in the same old dance that has been going on for the last 40 plus years. And yet there is one day supposed to be peace?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. What we have here in this ongoing conflict can only really be described then as insanity. Someone here, whether it be the Palestinians or the Israelis needs to step up and do something different and unexpected. They need to truly commit to the ideal of peace and then turn the other cheek. If Israel, as the superior military force in this conflict, would take the surprising path of offering an olive branch to those Palestinians that are not fighting and their representatives, they could foster ill will toward Hamas within the Palestinians and take advantage of the frustration that they are already feeling toward the situation. But Israel is too invested in its ego and pride to do this. It's got what I call little man's disease; it feels as if it doesn't come out swinging at every little threat, it makes itself a future victim. The truth is the other way around. Every time it swings out at nothing, it paints itself as the man to beat and isolates itself from more reasonable groups and countries. Do you take a gun out to shoot a bee that has just stung you? On the other hand, the Palestinians could show some maturity as a group and say "enough" to Hamas and the groups that continue to make then little more than victims. They could refuse to be defined by their fringe elements and take responsibility for their actions and destiny by acting as a whole in a reaonable group committed to peace. Drop the rocks and hold out their hands, both hands, and indicate that they are ready to see the situation for what it is and make the best of it. Neither group will ever have sole control and possession of the area again, they they need to learn to work together and find a solutionthat addresses the needs of everyone.

The time for peace is here, but it will take a swallowing of pride and ego on both sides for that to happen. I would think that brokering a lasting peace in the face of such past adversity is something, however, to be far more proud of.