Deri Joy RONIS, Ph.D^

This is a most difficult conflict to understand because of all the different perspectives from varying interest groups that entail a very well documented historical understanding. You may have heard the age-old axiom, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The answer has always been they both came first because you can’t have one without the other. Hence, so is the question of successful Middle East peace negotiations that have succeeded and failed in the past.

Depending on what news channel you watch, we see the poor Syrian families leaving their country and showing up in droves in Turkey and Greece to live outdoors in camps; then we have the ongoing Israeli – Palestinian conflict which has been going on for centuries though of course under different names before Israel became a state. Add to that combustible mix, the ongoing terrorist groups seeking to decimate the state of Israel and Assad’s attacks on innocent people.

To be honest, after studying, researching and working in the field of conflict resolution for over 3 decades, I can honestly say I don’t really know if there will ever be an end to these types of conflict which are centuries old. It has to do with perception, power, control, and domination.