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What can be done to achieve peace in Palestine?
cook99
Explorer
The violence is intensifying again. If you were a Palestinian or an Israeli, what would you be willing to do to end the violence?
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To quote Ajahn Chah -
Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won't be able to find it.
But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.
The hate/revenge cycle in those 2 cultures has become so ingrained that I don't believe peace is possible.
It seems to me that quote deals more with personal peace than international peace.
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What would YOU be willing to do?
Getting all parties to live in peace and harmony would cut it. No?
And realistically, what could one do without the aid of power and influence?
Perhaps showing by example as Thich Nhat Hanh did during the Viet Nam conflict.
I believe it deals more with our tendency to work on a global level with our "solutions" rather than on an individual basis with love and compassion. Teach the people of those two countries how to resolve issues with love and compassion rather than diplomacy and political strategies.
I look at the situations in Great Britain or in Thailand for example. The problems between the IRA and the people and government of Britain seemed to be permanently at odds. There was no peace until Britain opened her heart and forgave people from the IRA.
In Thailand, there were a number of communists who had left Thailand to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Vietnamese. These soldiers were accepted back into Thailand without any consequences and today, a good number of them actually contribute and serve in the Thai government. This is also true of the IRA in Britain.
As long as hatred and resentment resides in the hearts of the people of Palestine and Israel, nothing will bring peace.
I don't think anyone can do anything from afar. The problem lies within the people who are there, they harbor anger and hatred on both sides, and whether it is justified or not, it does nothing to further the goal of peace. One of our friends is from West Bank and squarely places the blame of the hatred Palestinians hold on the Israelis for their treatment of the people. It's very hard for him (he and his family are US citizens now) to know the US takes Israel's side. There is no peace for him right now because he believes the other side has to "give" first. Same with the other side. The disagreement there is almost as old as time. Solving it will take a major shift of consciousness on both sides.
This is my friend's quote:
"Palestine will get through this, no matter how many bombs they drop, homes they destroy, Gaza will make it! They wonder why hate is in the heart of palestenians? They made what they call terrorist."
It's possible, all right, just not likely. When the people have had their fill of killing, they'll stop, but not before.
What we're seeing is a blood feud. There's nothing we can do to stop it. It's all up to them.
I probably wouldn't dare do anything to get myself in trouble, if I were a Jew or Palestinian muslim. If I were deposited within the body of one or the other, I would have to admit the very basis of the conflict is religious insanity and then emigrate
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There is no 'right' answer to this situation. There is not just the political view, but there is also geography, and history, and family, and religion and.... there is no meaningful solution.
It is a meaningless problem where there is no solution where all the above conflicts meet in continual conflagration. Compassion is what is required...
I wonder how possible it is there for individual Israelis or Palestinians to make examples of reaching out to one another. Is that too dangerous? Would their fellows shun or scorn them for such an action? Are any of their religious leaders working for peace, or are they eclipsed by the politicians? Or teachers of young children - are they allowed to point young people in a different direction, than continuing the "blood feud"?
My niece had her bat mitzvah in Israel last summer...I was worried about her going then, but it seems to have been an awesome experience. Her parents told me she wants to live there someday. I wonder how she is feeling now?
War is a choice. So is peace.
After centuries of war, EU now has no borders.
Scotland can be an independent country if they wish.
US and Canada used to be bitter rivals, yet today we cant imagine
them going to war.
Can't imagine going to war with Canada, but the border can be anything but friendly. Better than war, for sure, but in most cases allies in today's world are political and resource-related. They are allies out of necessity not out of humanity.
To be honest, I don't think the OP question is very answerable, at least not to those of us who have no knowledge or understanding about the Jewish or Palestinian cultures. The question assumes we can put ourselves in their shoes.
Although it was not about Palestinians, one Arab leader who was making a tremendous difference in Middle Eastern thought was Anwar Sadat. And we know what happened to him.
Saying that war and peace are choices is so oversimplifying the equation. If for no other reason that in Israel it is "the" choice of several million people. Among Palestinians it is "the" choice of several million...and that choice is blurred by the influence of several anti-Israeli powers outside of Israel and the Palestinians territories.
EU has no borders????? And guess how easy it would be for the old strict borders to return.
In terms of the US and Canada being bitter rivals, when -- you mean in the colonial period?