With the Middle East in abject turmoil & war, is a Palestinian & Israeli Peace even thinkable, much less possible; the question is irrelative, for it matters not whether it is or isn't, it is a goal that must be pursued with all deliberate diplomacy and effort for it is a most worthy endeavor if the world is ever going to be a more peaceful place for all of us.
Unfortunately the situation in the Middle East (ME) is deteriorating, and Israel's policy of occupying Palestine is unsustainable. Something must be done and someone of stature must try.
The U.S. bears considerable responsibility for the current turmoil. It's generally acknowledged that four factors have led us to this deteriorating state of affairs in the ME, and they are;
1. The structure of Middle Eastern states, created by colonial powers at the end of World War I.
2. The rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism. Its causes are various — the rise of Saudi Arabia and its export of puritanical Wahhabi ideas, the Iranian revolution and the discrediting of Westernization as the secular republics in the region morphed into military dictatorships.
3. Christian fundamentalism right here in the U.S. and its influence on the Republican Party, through organizations like AIPAC, which shore-up the strong support of Israel's unsustainable occupation of Palestinian lands.
And lastly the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld policies in the ME, particularly their totally unjustified invasion of Iraq
4. The Bush invasion of Iraq, is probably the single action accelerating the sectarian conflicts today in the Middle East, it was the decision by Bush & Cheney to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, dismantle all structures in which Sunnis had power and then hand over the Iraqi state to Shiite religious parties.
However, there is still hope that peace may be possible, and if so then it's at least worth trying. John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State still thinks it's doable, even though others argue, and justifiably so, that his it's a quasi-delusional bid for a legacy by a former senator and presidential candidate who, at 70, has convinced only himself that he can succeed where so many other would-be peace brokers have failed.
Nonetheless, Kerry is no fool, and by applying his vast political talents learned since his years as a war hero rightly protesting the wrongness of American's war in Vietnam, and then rising to the highest echelons of power in the U.S. congress as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Kerry possesses what it takes. One must admire both his courage and conviction for his is a noble quest that just might work and maybe spark the beginnings of peace in an area of the world racked by the pain and misery of constant conflict.
We can never live in complete peace or safety as long as the ME remains in turmoil, and I applaud Kerry for his doggedness and pray for his success, for his is the worthiness of goals.
Diplomacy must therefore be resilient, patient and humble as it guides the warring parties away from open strife.
Winning the peace is never a short-term endeavor.
“It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
Sadly Watch 'Israeli Government'-Funded Groups Attack John Kerry With Scatological Parody Video;
http://www.motherjones.com/...
I further direct you below to Jackson Diehl's, Op-Ed as Deputy WP Editor, titled 'John Kerry's Mideast peace bid may yet bear some fruit'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Also recommended is Jodi Rudoren's NYT essay 'Israel's Castle Strategy'
http://www.nytimes.com/...
If you have a further interest I recommend you also read Zakaria's recent WP Op-Ed, 'Making things worse in the Middle East', linked directly below;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...