My Way

There are two themes that underline the current crisis in Lebanon. One is the tendency of the military mind to set policy both in Israel and in militant Islamic organizations and the other is the danger of fundamentalism. Islamic fundamentalism, which views the Middle East as a region for Muslims only. That view threatens to convert the Israeli-Arab conflict into a religious one with no room for compromise. Jewish fundamentalism, which views their victory in 1967 as miraculous allowing the belief their cause is preordained in the march to salvation. Christian fundamentalism, the simplistic view of the world which divides everything and everyone into good and evil with very little room for nonviolent resolution or compromise. All three fundamentalism have one view in common,"It's my way or die"
An international brokered cease fire would be the first step to stabilizing the situation. A cease fire would lead to political steps that would insert a credible international force on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Only when both of these events happen will the world be able to return to dealing with the region's real problem that of the Israeli-Palestinian vision of a two state solution