October 9, 2023 – We’re tired of this.

Every few years Israel is at war with its Arab neighbors. When it’s over, people mourn the dead, but nothing is resolved. The threat remains.

I write this as an Israel sympathizer. But I think it is true for the other side as well.

Do you think these wars improve the lives of the people who only want to live, love their families, raise children, and grow old? I’ve been around long enough to see that they only make things worse. Families are broken. Lives are lived in fear.

It’s always tempting for people who fear to lash out, thinking that they will end things once and for all. That they will be heroes. That they will finally be on top of the world. But it never happens.

The current delusion seems to have been that an attack in the midst of Israel’s governing crisis would somehow succeed. Are you kidding me?

It’s almost as if Hamas (and Iran) wanted to strengthen the Netanyahu government. Here’s a pro tip: launching a murderous attack does not make an enemy lay down its arms. Didn’t you guys learn anything from Russia’s attack on Ukraine (or the seemingly endless attacks and counter attacks in the Middle East).

So, I titled this post “The Dilemma of Israel and Palestine.” What’s the dilemma?

The dilemma is that one side can’t lay down its arms without the other side doing so as well. The dilemma is that, while restraint is the only path to peace, it’s impossible for a nation to act with restraint while being regularly attacked.

And this goes both ways—by the way. Even if one side acts with restraint, it has to keep up the restraint for an impossibly long time before the other side joins in.

Both sides have to arrive at a peaceful frame of mind and the same time and stick with it. Sadly, this doesn’t happen, even though the path to war has been uniformly unsuccessful.

Over and over and over again. Little gained. Much lost. Nothing learned.

Those who seek war, however, are in perfect sync with those who seek it on the other side. They are always ready to undermine those in their camp who would seek peace.

“Terrorism” is supposedly defined by having a political goal. What do you call it when the violence clearly and obviously undermines the supposed political goal? Do we even have a word for that?

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