Everyone is anxiously talking about the possibility of peace in the Middle East - well, okay, honestly, they're really only talking about peace between Israel and Palestine. News outlets as varied as MSNBC and Rediff all have different takes on what is occurring (I happen to like Rediff's the best so far). It's funny how our (US) news outlets talk about how President Obama is opening "long shot" Mideast peace talks, yet other agencies talk about it in more general terms, as if Israel and Palestine have something to do with this process.
Want to know when peace in between Israel and Palestine will happen? When Israel and Palestine are ready for peace (I hate to sound like the Sphinx , but it's true). Our involvement should be as limited as possible - honestly, the process could probably occur without us. Let them meet here, bring them to the table, then leave the room and let them work through this.
We don't live under the threat of attack (as the Israelis do) and our people are not blockaded and starving (as the Palestinians are). We have a cursory understanding of the atmosphere on the ground at best when compared to the parties involved. Both states are there and both states will remain there (let's face it, no one is leaving), which means the only realistic option is to find a way to live together. Oddly enough, the two state solution presents some interesting common ground. With both groups so close and essentially both capitals tangled together in Jerusalem, the security of one side becomes a serious concern to the other, as any serious threat to one party can quickly become a destabilizing force to the other.

We have some promising signs this time around, as evidenced in the Rediff article and in this piece by the BBC . Maybe the global economic crisis should get some credit here (pun intended), in hard times the cost of conflict truly feels burdensome. In the end what will really matter is not what diplomats decide around a table in a comfortable room far away from human suffering, but what action the common citizens choose to take at home.