As an outsider what I see in the "Holy Land" is hate and fear bundled together with ignorance. No solution will work until much greater trust is somehow generated. Outsiders feel compelled to take sides, but that isn't really fair as there is plenty of blame to spread.
The two authors of "Tomorrow is Yesterday" Hussein Agha and Robert Malley were insiders who had been involved with advising leaders on both sides and were involved with negotiations.
They noted an American bias. It really goes back to 1948. President Harry Truman was uncertain if he should support the movement to create Israel. One of his more trusted friends, a Jewish tailor from his home town in Missouri encouraged him to support. After knowledge of the Holocaust many Americans felt guilt as they had made it difficult for Jews to immigrate to the U.S. Some admired the gutsyness of the Jewish pioneers. The Jewish Christian traditions inclined Americans to think of the Arabic Muslims as uncivilized.
Religious fervor was a big factor. While suffering in their wanderings after an expulsion, some Jewish thinkers felt they needed to get back to the Holy Land and organized the Zionist movement. A small, but powerful group of Christians were able to find in the Bible signs of the second coming of Christ that required the Jews ruling in Jerusalem. They became a significant factor in U.S. elections. Israeli settlers seemed to feel they were fulfilling a historical religious calling. A Jewish group, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee also provided political support for Israel.
On the other side, the Muslims felt they were owed the whole of Palestine. Going back to World War I they had been led to believe if they helped the British defeat the Turks they would have more freedom. The Arabs felt they had conquered Palestine and beaten off the Crusaders and Turks and had their own religious attachment for the land.
In 1948 the United Nations had tried to set up two independent nations, but the Arabs felt they were entitled to all the land between the sea and the river and furthermore the Jews were intruders. The Palestinians have been criticized many times for not accepting Israeli/American attempts at compromise, but they felt cheated.
The two authors were personally familiar with Yasser Arafat, Mamoud Abbas, Ehud Barak, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu and many others. The American presidents felt restricted by their four year terms forcing them to rush.
The two authors feel the two state solution has been advocated for many years and very likely to be resisted by elements on both sides.
They feel it is time to look for alternatives. A single state giving equality to both sides with protections for minorities might work, but has a lot of resistance. Nearby Lebanon has a constitution that is supposed to protect Muslims, Christians and Jews that worked very well until after World War II. For awhile Jordan controlled the West Bank, but backed away from it over (among other concerns) worry of Palestinians dominating their country.
To me the big problem was depicted in my first paragraph. Fear and hatred need to be tamed and trust built up. This would take more than an American presidential term. The western world is gradually learning to live with Muslims (many escaping from Mideast turmoil). Arab nations with oil wealth are now trying to exert international presence. Many are open to trade with Israel. A lot of political rhetoric in the U.S. has been about how repulsive Arabs and Muslims are and have been generating hate in American elections.
Trust is built by interconnections. Two areas that have worked for others, are sports and arts. Arabs/Muslims and Jews do business with one another in the rest of the world. Western consumers are becoming fans of Muslim athletes and artists. Education is critical and should include such things as cultural appreciation, history and logic.
Perhaps we expect too much. Humans distrust strangers, but we function in big cities. The world has become much more interconnected and we have mutual concerns. Climate change affects everyone, even those who think it is a "con job." Pollution has invaded pretty much everywhere. All our problems could be obliterated in a nuclear war. We would all be better off if more people would shift their focus to things that really matter.
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