A long way to go

“Do you think we will have peace in the Middle East soon?
No way…not before 50 years…maybe your sons’ kids will be living in a peaceful region if you are still living here”
This is what my sister told me today

She made me think...

The Arab-Israeli conflict is 60 years old…
Things have changed along these years…but to what extent?

Once we had one conflict in the region, nowadays we have several conflicts…
Once it was the Arab-Israeli conflict, nowadays we have the sunni-shiite conflict…
Once it was the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, nowadays we have the Al-Qaida conundrum…
Once Israel was a threat to the Arab world, nowadays we have Iran “the biggest threat” to the Arab world…

They divided us…Moderates and Extremists…”On which side are you”? They said to us…

Many are betting that the Iranian threat will force Israel and the Arab world into signing a peace treaty in order to form a strong defense shield…

How will the people deal with such a huge transformation in the relations between Israel and the Arab world?

How can a person that has been fed hatred towards the Israelis for 60 years be able to have “normal” relations?

How can a person that has been thought to fear the Arabs for 60 years be able to trust them?

What is happening on the internet, on the blogsphere, on facebook groups is only the beginning…

Signing a peace treaty will be the easiest step in the huge project called peacebuilding in the Middle East…

Dealing with people is harder than dealing with texts, terms and treaties…