Peace in the Middle East is possible

STATEMENTS from the Israeli government subsequent to the drone attacks, supposedly from Iran, were along the lines of: “How dare they attack our sovereign territory? These attacks will require us to take severe retaliatory action.” The statements are so naive they border on insanity.

I wonder if the state of Israel has collective amnesia about what it has done for more than 190 days in the State of Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank? With its immense superiority complex, the Israeli military (I’d like to think most of the civilian population of Israel do not back the slaughter and genocide of innocent civilians in Palestine), it has opened itself to perpetual war with its sworn enemies, Hamas. A perpetual motion machine is not possible, but a perpetual war is.

One day in our lifetime, the Americans will shut off the tap and the State of Israel will find itself in a lonely and harsh neighbourhood, all of its own making. It is not out of the realm of possibility that some random enemy person carries a nuclear bomb right into the middle of Tel Aviv. Peace can be made, and concessions will have to be made from all sides. The pain would be worth it. The people in the region want this, and the world wants it.

PETER BAKER | Johannesburg