Refreshingly optimistic piece (There will be peace between Israel and Palestine) by Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston:

If ever there was a time to be a fundamentalist for peace, this is the time. If ever there was a need for fanatical belief in a shared future for Palestinians and Israelis, the need is now.

The smart money is overwhelmingly betting on two states to lose. But Middle East politics has nothing to do with smart. The mind is not the organ that runs the show here, no matter how brilliant the mind. For Israelis and Palestinians alike, the brain is the servant of the heart.

That may be why there are truly two peoples here, but they don't really divide along the misleading lines of Jew vs. Arab, Palestinian vs. Israeli, right vs. left, fundamentalist vs. freethinker. The real division cuts across those lines.

From the standpoint of caring fiercely about the future of the Holy Land, there are only two kinds of people anywhere in the world:

Those who believe in the possibility of peace and those who do not.

Those who believe that the land can be de-occupied and partitioned into two states for the benefit of Israel and Palestine both; and those who believe that it cannot be partitioned, must not be partitioned, will never be partitioned.

Those who believe in settlements over peace have already begun to organize, to stand up and be counted, to devise ways to get their way even if the majority feels otherwise.

Now it’s the turn of the first group, the other fundamentalists and fanatics. The majority.

History has shown that the settlers and their allies always believe that they have much more popular support than they actually do. They also count – wrongly - on their opponents to feel powerless and slink away from the battle.

The pro-settlement group will do everything it can to brainwash, instill guilt, cajole, blackmail and otherwise persuade the rest of us to let the talks go nowhere, except down.

But there will be peace between Israel and Palestine, because people who want it will raise their voices and sign their names and pound pavements and speak with their friends – and believe.

Let it begin.

 

Amen to that.  Happy weekend.