Last week I heard a young man speak about Israel for about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes, in very broken English. His name was Meir, and his grandparents were survivors of the Holocaust. When he was a small boy his parents brought him and his 5 siblings from Holland to Israel, to have a homeland where they could be safe. A few months ago, Meir's parents and three of their six kids were killed by a suicide bomber in the Sbarro Pizzeria in Jerusalem. Meir has no intention of ever living anywhere but Israel, in spite of this loss. A Finnish TV program tried to arrange for him to meet the family of the Palestinian suicide bomber. Meir was hesitant but willing. However, the Palestinian family said that their only regret was that their son hadn't killed the whole family and more. So no meeting was possible.

The original idea of this thread was that everyone should post an idea that would forward peace. I made a suggestion that the early education on each side needs to be vetted so that kids aren't indoctrinated into seeing the other side as satanic. The mindset that destroys any possibility of resolution goes like this: "Innumerable / unspeakable things have been DONE TO US" -- and that's as far as the reasoning process goes, after that it's just inarticulate hatred. No admission, no acknowledgement that this is a two-sided thing, that each side has been cruel and violent and inhuman, and that each side has been hurt beyond telling. I don't know how to change that mindset--but that IS what needs to change.