When Will the Middle East Find Peace?
By John Ross Schroeder
Why does it seem that the Middle East is always in turmoil, perpetually on the brink of another war? Will this troubled region ever see lasting peace?
"P
ray for the peace of Jerusalem," urged Israel's King David 3,000 years ago (Psalm 122:6). Seeking a peaceful solution to the Mideast problem is the concern, if not the prayer, of many world leaders. But peace in the Holy Land has, over the centuries, been in remarkably short supply.
The area remains plagued by stubborn antagonisms that baffle and dispirit virtually anyone who hopes for satisfactory solutions to age-old problems.
Recent events dramatize the problem. Whenever it seems that Israelis and Palestinians might reach an agreement that would let the two sides live in peace, violence and bloodshed break out.
Ancient antagonisms are so great that political leaders are sometimes straitjacketed by their constituents. Prospects for peace remain dim in an area in which disputes have long been settled by sword, bullet and bomb.
