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The Middle-East Conflict: An Anthology

by Rabbi Tzvi Shapiro




The complexity of simplicity 

For most people the underlying understanding of the Middle East conflict is this:

The conflict in the Middle East is about visionaries. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians want to change history.

The Palestinians say they desire to govern a land they can call their own. There is no record in history that there ever has been such a land, and the Palestinians say enough is enough.

The Israelis say they want to live safely. For over two thousand years Jews have constantly been threatened, attacked and evicted, and the Israelis say enough is enough.

Currently, the piece of land the Palestinians desire for their novel state is being governed by the Israelis. Concurrently, the most internal threat to the little place Israelis call home comes from the Palestinians.

The great thinkers of our time came up with a plan of sheer ingenuity. Let the Israelis give the Palestinians land, and let the Palestinians give Israel security.

And so on September 13, 1993 The Oslo (land for peace) Accords were signed on the White House lawn.

That was 14 years ago. Why are we still in middle of a conflict? And why has the conflict gotten worse?

Understanding that we don't understand

Apparently the great thinkers weren’t that great, and the ingenuity wasn’t that genius. Not that I am the expert who knows what went wrong, but I don't have to be a genius to know that it went wrong.

Perhaps the above mentioned description of the struggle was too simplistic, or simply inaccurate. If that were the case, it would be clear why the solution for that problem didn't work - because that wasn't the problem.

With the Palestinians governing more land than they ever did in history, you would think - based on the aforementioned premise - Israel would have more security than it ever did. But that is not the case.

It would behoove the thinkers of the world to come to terms with this realization, and begin thinking in different terms. It is time to throw out the pseudo findings and begin searching for the real problem. That is the only way we stand a chance of coming up with a standing solution.

I may not be a genius, but at least I am not insane.

You see, Einstein defined insanity brilliantly. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Land for peace is not working. Doing it again is simply insane.

Following is an anthology of articles. These articles offer new and unique insight and ingenuity. New theories are definitely worth exploring, since everything we have proclaimed to know until now obviously didn't work.

So clear your mind, open your heart, think outside the box, and try these other perspectives on for size.

Will Disengagement Promote Peace?

Would the Holocaust Have Occurred If Israel Were Around?

It Takes Two

Stop deceiving the Arabs

Neighborhood Bully

The Emperor IS Naked

