This page is rendered using the default Netgen Site API pagelayout template.
This block is rendered using the default Netgen Site API full view template.
929552940719
8csm_list_article_item
- ID
20508632- Field definition ID
1319- Identifier
headline- Field type identifier
ezstring- Description
[empty]- Contents
'What's going to happen over there?'
- ID
23244143- Field definition ID
1800- Identifier
seo_title- Field type identifier
ezstring- Description
[empty]- Contents
[empty]
- ID
20508633- Field definition ID
1320- Identifier
body- Field type identifier
ezxmltext- Description
[empty]- Contents
Upon returning from my three years as Jerusalem bureau chief, the No. 1 question everyone asked was: “What’s going to happen over there? Is there any hope?”
Looking at the headlines, one might think not. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks unraveled last year. Both sides espouse a deep sense of victimhood. Hard-liners are gaining influence, and clashing theological doctrines increasingly complicate the conflict.
And yet that picture of stalemate, described in black and white in newspapers, is all too often missing an important dimension: humanity.
Though Israelis and Palestinians are stuck in a political chess game, they are not helpless pawns. They are incredibly determined, resourceful, resilient people. While some seem paralyzed by fear, cynicism, or hatred, others are finding creative ways forward. In the face of prodigious challenges, many have an abiding faith in a higher power to bring order and justice to the Middle East.
Their character and insights – imparted over a Ramadan meal or a Shabbat dinner, an office desk or a muddy village road – inspired me to start a blog for the Monitor, “The Olive Press: Finding humanity amid the pressures of the Middle East,” which featured more than 100 people and initiatives over the past two years.
It also inspired this final piece, for which I profiled 12 individuals. Right and left, religious and secular, hawkish and peacenik, they illustrate the various models at work as Israelis and Palestinians strive to carve out a future for themselves in this beautiful land, implementing their vision without waiting for their leaders – or a peace deal.
This is not a comprehensive cataloging of political views, though it does include the growing blocs on both sides that are opposed to a two-state solution. Rather, this is an attempt to reveal the humanity I witnessed across a broad spectrum of factions – which, I believe, indeed gives reason to hope.
- ID
20508634- Field definition ID
1321- Identifier
media- Field type identifier
ezobjectrelationlist- Description
[empty]- Contents
- ID
20508635- Field definition ID
1323- Identifier
related_external_links- Field type identifier
ezmatrix- Description
- NOTE: Related links will show only on the last list item in the list. Do not add related links to other list items.
- Contents
[empty]
- ID
20508636- Field definition ID
1325- Identifier
sidebar_info_box- Field type identifier
ezxmltext- Description
- The contents will be displayed just below the page navigation button.
- Contents
[empty]
- ID
20508637- Field definition ID
1326- Identifier
page_url_name- Field type identifier
ezstring- Description
[empty]- Contents
[empty]
- ID
20508638- Field definition ID
1328- Identifier
page_title- Field type identifier
ezstring- Description
[empty]- Contents
[empty]
- ID
20508639- Field definition ID
1415- Identifier
metadata- Field type identifier
ezmatrix- Description
[empty]- Contents
[empty]