Trouble in the Middle East

I never thought my first post would be about the Middle East but here goes…

Trouble flares in the Middle East and instantly everyone has to jump to one side or the other, "pro-Israel" or "pro-Palestinian". Whichever side you pick you get demonised by the other. You either support a thuggish military machine bombing an innocent civilian population who can't possibly defend themselves or you support a terrorist organisation that sends waves of rockets and suicide bombers to attack children. I despair of this so-called debate but not as much as I despair for the people living with this mess.

The constant question of "who started it?" is utterly meaningless. The back and fro of "they did this" but "the others did that first" but "they did this earlier" achieves nothing, but it doesn't stop it being a frequent player. The latest version is that Israel was provoked by rockets being fired at Israeli towns, but the Israelis had sealed off Gaza with an effective blockade causing wild spread suffering, but that was because of .... and so on back through decades and decades. Until the people involved are tired of history and focus on the future instead nothing will change and this cycle of pain and misery will continue.

This is a failure of leadership on both sides; Israel will never achieve peace and security by force and Israel will never be wiped from the map. The end result, as is common knowledge to all who follow this situation, is two states, a free Palestine and a secure Israel, based pretty much on the pre-1967 borders. It has all been talked through before, agreement nearly reached then lost, and all that happens is people keep dying. Sadly, for those living in the region, that peaceful future seems a long way off.