Peace in the Middle East

Middle East Peace Talks

Many people view the Middle East as having been a powder keg for the last half-century. These difficulties started when other countries, such as Great Britain, made decisions in the region, including setting boundaries, that historically did not work out well. This has been the cause of strife in other areas of the world as well. However, rightly or wrongly, many Arabs in the Middle East view the strife as going back much further. They point to the start of difficulties at the Crusades of the middle ages. This points to a very significant and basic problem: history is written, and viewed, differently by different groups in the world. In the case of the Middle East, the issue is history -- whether it's the history of something that happened last week or events from the 12th century.

To solve this difficult problem, it is necessary for everyone involved to first acknowledge the perspectives of the other people. This means that representatives from Israel must acknowledge that Arabs believe that Israeli land was taken from without their permission or agreement. It means that Israel must recognize that Middle Eastern grievances go back much further than the founding of Israel.

To achieve this understanding of each others' perspectives, Middle Eastern leaders, for instance, would have to acknowledge that those who founded Israel did believe they had a Biblical right to the land, that their claim to it predated any Arab claims to it. Peace brokers would not look for agreement on these points; the goal would be for each side to be very clear about the others' perspectives.

Peace would still not be possible unless all parties came to the table in good faith and with determination to find a peaceful solution. That means that during this exploratory period, it would be up to all participants to put all issues, grievances and beliefs about historical wrongs on the table where they can be understood by all. I would choose this course of action because otherwise, undisclosed issues will come up, sometimes unstated or disguised as other issues. This exploratory phase should persist until all parties can explain what opponents believe dispassionately, without exaggeration, without adding comments about their own perspective, without assigning blame, and without any other non-neutral overlays. Only if each side understands the others' frames of references can they talk with each other about these issues.

Then the separate groups should make lists of what they want in order to bring peace. Only if every faction participates in these negotiations with true intent to find solutions will it work. Next, the group of leaders will have to do the hard work of finding solutions compromising, and staying focused on the future instead of nursing old hurts. Once they have all identified the history, they must be willing to treat it as history and be ready to move forward, not look backwards at past grievances.