PROVOCATION

It was so very disturbing to see the news reports of the Israeli attack on the flotilla off the shores of Gaza. I think I understand how hard it is to be Israel. Born out of war/revolution and sixty odd years of continuous conflict with its neighbors in every direction. Life is lived in suspicion, mis-trust. This is so embedded, that all acts can be provocations to swift, even violent reaction: all under the labels "justified" and "to prevent future attacks".

Land that has known so many divergent settled peoples, no one can the historic right to control the region. But, for better or for worse, the international community recognizes the state of Israel as the entity with authority over the area - in the same way the world recognizes the 49th parallel between the US and Canada, regardless of the long and diverse history of people living on North American lands.

So much effort is put into controlling the violence, that there is no opportunity to work for mutual existence. There are so many demands on the nature Palestinian autonomy, that there is no freedom to simply let people live. There is so much mis-trust built out of past acts of violence and threats from leaders across the region that a path of peace is unrecognizable.

What will provoke an end to the cycle of violence? Or is another generation doomed to kill and die for a battle with no end in site?