The enduring conflict won’t come to an end next week, next year or a decade from now.
It will fester for a long time, with intermittent eruptions like the one we’re living through now.
Over the years, both parties have made mistakes. Grave mistakes.
But Israel has managed to develop and prosper as a nation in an extraordinary way.
Tiny Israel has no oil to pump out and sell.
No mineral resources that the rest of the world wants.
And yet they shine on the world stage.
So why haven’t Palestinians done the same?
Is there a conspiracy to oppress them, to exploit them for the benefit of Israel?
No.
The answer for the difference lies in governance. The lack of enlightened leadership.
The political organization Hamas has been a resounding failure.
Palestinians are no less than Israelis.
Nature is very democratic. It creates talent everywhere.
But those talents have to be nurtured to find full expression.
The Arab nations that surround Palestine have not invested in the education of Palestinians.
There is no greater harm to other human beings than to deprive them of the chance to develop their abilities.
Arab nations have not stepped up and said to Palestine, ‘commit to the peaceful resolution of your territorial grievances with Israel. That will come. But commit, now, to the fullest development of your potential as human beings.’
If the Palestinian people were to make such commitment, then they could ask the developed nations…
