Sep 21, 2011 / Topic Ideas

Do you think peace in the middle east is possible?

Topic #257:

Do you think peace in the middle east is possible? Do you think peace anywhere is possible? Likely? Why is it so hard for neighbors, whether its countries or people and their homes. to get along? Or is it easier than we think?

Related: President Obama speaks at U.N. about the challenges in the middle east.

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  1. No. There is just too much hatred and mistrust from centuries of fighting. Also because they are so stubborn and refuse to forgive or forget the little things.

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  3. If history is any indication I think Peace (but how do we define peace) in the Middle East is not possible. I think Peace anywhere else is impossible anywhere else for that matter. I do think that “Peace” is just a political tool that leaders use.

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  4. No i dont. People are far too power hungry and ruthless for there to be peace of any sort. There maybe peace for a short period of time but there will deffinatly never be complete peace between anyone.

    Amy.

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  10. I truly do not. Much of the difficulty stems from hundreds of years of history. Much from disagreement over who owns the same piece of land. There seems to be little interest in peace among the participants. There seems to be much interest in being right among the participants. If they could be instruments in God’s hands…http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/

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  11. Having lived in the middle east the past 3 years, my answer would be NO. Between feelings of entitlement, lack of education (even in the wealthiest of these countries, maybe even more so!), lack of responsibility, lack of compassion and understanding for other religions… The list goes on and on… Sadly, NO, never ever.

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  12. No I do not think that it will ever be peaceful in the Middle East. They are used to power by violence. We won’t ever have peace anyplace until we all learn to love our neighbors as ourselves.

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  14. The People in the Middle East where taught that violence is the cure, but all it does is make more violence. In America there is no excuse for that. We have better oppurtunities in life than to waste life with anger. Just smile!! A smile goes a long way.

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  19. Nope. Dont think Middle East and Peace go together as much as they rhyme well phonetically! Intelorant religious views, power hungry hypocrites and mindless/jobless people can only create war; nothing constructive. The handful of expats down there can definitely do nothing except keep their jobs!Add to that its a place where the ‘other’ gender i.e. women are treated in the most inhuman manner..there’s no way peace is even an achievable target considering all ill treatment starts at home itself!

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  20. I love all the questions and all the whys, really, why can’t peace be so hard to achieve by other people, countries, etc, when all it takes is meeting half way through to get each other’s points addressed.

    I believe that it’s easier than we think because all these people who are instigating war, etc among their neighbors have their insecurities and I suppose they have been deprived of attention, resources, luxury, etc.

    Thank you for sharing…

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  23. Of course peace is possible, but Israel has to jump over its own shadows. Those shadows are the holocaust and their own conscience. They know they have stolen their country from other people. And they are still stealing by building new settlements on the West Bank.

    It is hard to discuss this with people who support Israel as one is immediately accused of anti-Semitism. Israel always ask the Palestinians to recognise the right of Israel to exist. But Israel must also recognise that the Palestinians feel aggrieved and wronged by.

    It is all very like the parable of the Prodigal Son. After a long absence the Israelites have returned and the Palestinians are supposed to share the land with the returnees. They took them in but it became all too much in 1948 when the Israelis behaved like cuckoos and wanted to push the Palestinians out of their own land.

    I think the Israelis have to do more for the Palestinians before they will be able to recognise them. They are both Semites, brothers really, and should love each other. But then they are both not reading the New Testament.

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  24. ACHIEVING THE LONG-AWAITED PEACE IN THE MIDDLE-EAST RESTS SOLELY WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,THAT HAS ALWAYS REFUSED TO ACT AS THE ‘HARBINGER OF PEACE’, BETWEEN THE TWO WARRING NATIONS.IT SMACKS OF CRASS HYPOCRISY,THAT INSPITE OF THE PALPABLE REPRESSION OF THE PALESTINIANS BY THE ISRAELITES,AMERICA AND ‘ITS FRIENDS’ ARE LOOKING THE OTHER WAY,THUS,THROWING ITS ROLE OF THE ‘GLOBAL DEFENDER’,TO THE DOGS.ONE IS THEREFORE AT A LOSS,TRYING TO CONSIDER THE PLAUSIBILITY OF WAGING WAR AGAINST OTHER COUNTRIES!

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  25. Most interesting here is that, after decades of being indoctrinated by politicians that peace is the goal, very few commenters even consider it possible, among whom I count myself. Some leave no reason beyond the ‘history’ of the region, others blame Israel for ‘stealing’ land from their adversaries or mistreating them.

    What strikes me is how, despite feeling qualified to venture an opinion on the prospects for peace, that opinion is evidently seldom supported by an in-depth knowledge of the issues at stake or of the actual history of the conflict beyond a superficial knowledge of the major events.

    In my experience of discussion on this topic (and it always attracts heated debate), people who are well informed tend strongly to be pessimistic because they see little prospect of Palestinian acceptance of either a non-Muslim entity in their midst or acceptance of a Jewish entity with authority over Muslims within some part of ‘Palestine’. In others, they do not accept the existence of a Jewish state, a point made forcefully by Mahmoud Abbas just this week. Israel’s reaction to that, naturally, is defensive, including defensible boundaries, and hence the settlement policy. On the other hand are those who support the Palestinian cause, as outlined by the Palestinian leadership. These people tend strongly to be driven by the emotional content of issues and either ignore or are ignorant of the impact of the policy positions they take. Or in some cases welcome those implications, specifically the eventual destruction of the Jewish state.

    This obsevation-based analysis offers, unfortunately, little hope for peace in the short or medium term. As for the long term, Palestinians with whom I’ve spoken in Palestine are confident that even it they will not see resolution in their favor, they are confident the struggle will be carried on by their children and their children’s children.

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  28. I think it is possible. Why?because I always believe in serenity, love and peace of mind. I think even for one minute people in middle east search for silence. With that certain point of time peace (depends on how you define it) is already present it may not last for long but atleast it happens.

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