SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND - PATH TO ??

Palestinians are Arabs who lived in a geographically ill-defined area of Middle East land, the borders of which have changed innumerable times over the centuries. Jews also have lived in that area for thousands of years. With the rise of the Zionist movement in the late eighteen hundreds whose goal is the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people, those Jews are often defined as Zionists, sometimes against their objections to such a non-religious name. Most Palestinians wish that Israel would disappear or be "disappeared." Hence, the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

"SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND" is the name of an organization seeking to resolve the Palestinian-Israel conflict. Notice the difference between Palestinian, meaning people who live in a geographical area called "Palestine," and Israel, meaning a nation established in 1948 in part of that area. The conflict began in biblical times and continues to the present, having assumed many shapes over the centuries.

Common ground is an expression that generally implies an area of agreement between parties with differing points of view. Searching for that area of agreement and finding it should or may lead to agreement on issues in dispute by holding up the pictures of areas of agreement as guideposts on the way to agreement on those opposing issues, those issues in dispute.

However, when there are no common grounds that relate to the issues in dispute, the search for common ground is a misleading tactic in the way to agreement on issues in dispute. Being friendly with your opponent, a desired condition growing out of common ground, is of no use in the resolution of issues of belief and historical/geographical imperatives. As an example, if one loses a piece of jewelry that is found by another in neutral territory and claimed by the finder as belonging to him, no common ground can resolve the conflict of ownership.

Or, if one believes that a certain rock is holy, no finding of common ground will enable a non-believer to destroy or remove that rock from its location.

Or, if one is brought up to believe that a national territory extends to a certain location and if, after warfare over that territory, a non-national attempts to occupy that territory and claim it under the rules of war, absent some agreement that is based on a fair exchange of territory - patriotism, love of country, and history will simply nullify any change that is not found to be fair.

These are examples where “common ground” leads nowhere. History, religion, geography, patriotism, prior ownership, all nullify the benefits of cordial relations generated by finding common grounds that enable antagonists to discuss their disagreements in an amicable fashion.

The solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict lies in the parties defining a future without reference to history, geography, religion, patriotism or any unchangeable immutable points of reference. What do the parties to the conflict want for their following generations? Peace, health, education, opportunity, prosperity, equality, and all the happiness that these may provide. Until the definition for the future is agreed upon, no discussion of territory will lead to a solution.