Plague

What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves.

--Albert Camus

It seems to me that the situation in Israel and Palestine qualifies as a plague. It spreads like wildfire in times of pandemic, and lies dormant, festering in the darkness of a history too-well remembered in times of "peace." One can only hope that Camus was right.

With the divisions growing within the Palestinian community between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank it is harder to imagine that a lasting peace will come to the Holy Land. The west has responded by trying to bolster Fatah with renewed funding, but that's not going to make any real difference. There is a crisis of leadership in both Israel and Palestine, and it is that lack of direction that has both sides continuing down a road of sickening destruction. Olmert is a charlatan, a fake, a phony posing as a real leader. He acts tough to hide his ineptitude, confuses steadfastness for bravery, pig-headedness for focus. The Palestinians are no better, and may be far worse. Abbas clearly doesn't have what it takes to lead. He is dealing with a difficult situation, but he just doesn't have what it takes to lead his people toward stability. Hamas fills part of that vacuum by appealing to people's basest emotions and nationalistic tendencies.

It is too bad that Sharon had to slip away so soon. He did not always provide the right voice to the conflict, sometimes inflaming passions and igniting violence with his cavalier pomposity. But in more recent years he seemed to show a softer approach culminating in his removal of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip. The hardliners just have to be removed from the equation some how. It's nearly impossible because they really try to force themselves into everything. But Sharon saw that the Israeli settlers were doing far more harm than good by inflaming the passions of radicals on the Palestinian side with their forced presence in Gaza. There is a consensus on both sides that wants the violence to end and are willing to deal to do it. If leadership can emerge on both sides within those respective coalitions I think this thing can finally end.

But that's a big if. This isn't any normal plague. It's malignancy knows no depths. It has long defied attempts at a cure, sending too many peacemakers to an early grave. Can enough people rise above to finally end this plague? Hope so.