What Makes People Tick?

 About 11 years ago, I penned " A Two-State Solution with a Twist - My approach to the problems facing Israel and Palestine today "  full of hope and idealism. Af ter October 7th 2023 and the long, drawn-out war in Gaza that followed those horrific attacks, a peaceful so lution seems further away than ever. Ever the optimist, I find myself revisiting my thoughts on the topic. Today, I'm finishing the post from 2014 with some edits and some newer thoughts mixed in. M any years have passed since 1948 and whether one likes it or not (I'm looking at you, Hamas !), the State of Israel is an established fact. The only way to remove the State of Israel is to wipe every last bit of it off the map entirely, which would equate to the mass genocide of millions of innocent people. Seeing the world already tried that 'solution' some seventy-odd years ago, let's try building bridges this time instead of fences. Just as the State of Israel is an established fact , so...

Source : Getty Images Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The world's three main monotheistic religions. First came monotheistic Judaism in a polytheistic world. Then came the Jewish Jesus whose teachings inspired Christianity. Then came Islam which accepts all the Jewish prophets and Jesus' virgin birth and teachings. These three religions are connected not only through acceptance of the same prophets and basic teachings but also through locations that matter to them and many very similar rituals, prayers and aspirations. When one examines the similarities between these three religious groups, the differences between them somehow seem to fade away into nothing. The Jewish Torah consists of the Biblical books Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Together with several other books by or about prophets and some containing wisdom or songs or teachings, these books together make up the Tanakh - the full "Jewish Bible". Christians rearrange the books and ...

The Guardian reported yesterday (25 May 2014) that the head of the worldwide Catholic Church, Pope Francis, visited the security barrier separating Israel from Palestine at Bethlehem to speak and pray there. "It is an image that will define Pope Francis's first official visit to the Holy Land. Head bowed in prayer, the leader of the Catholic church pressed his palm against the graffiti-covered concrete of Israel's imposing "separation wall", a Palestinian girl holding a flag by his side. It was, as his aides conceded later, a silent statement against a symbol of division and conflict." Source :  Pope Francis offers prayers at Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem The Guardian