A threshold has been crossed in the region in the past two weeks that has transformed the conflict from a political dispute between Israelis and Palestinians into an increasingly ethnic and religious conflict that knows no boundaries. Heart-wrenching scenes of a Palestinian boy shot in the arms of his father and of a public lynching of Israeli soldiers have elevated popular passions to new levels. As full escalation becomes a real possibility in this environment, the stakes for the United States are higher than ever. And friendly governments in the region are stressed by overwhelming public passions within their own countries, intensified by new global media they cannot control. When religion is the issue, mosques and synagogues become more powerful instruments of political mobilization than governments or political parties.
Moderates go on the defensive or allow fear to overcome rationality.
Serious people are increasingly drawn to the tempting belief that violence is now a solution, drawing mistaken lessons from previous episodes, as if the world has remained static. Only weeks ago, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict seemed on its way to a resolution. Religion was not at its core. The Zionist movement saw itself as a Jewish national movement, intent on building a Jewish nationalist state, and it was largely driven by secular ideology. The Palestinian national movement came of age in the 1960s, at a time when secular Arab nationalism swept the Middle East and was a counterweight to political Islam.