You want to solve the Arab/Israeli problem?  When you try to discuss the strategic solutions, I don’t think you are trying to solve the right problem.

One thing that has not been tried is to clearly and publicly present, and acknowledge the two radically different NARRATIVES that the opposing sides hold that continue to prevent any ability to come to agreement.

The focus has always been on developing a political agreement, or a tactical or strategic balance – but there never has been a clear public presentation and acknowledgment of the two opposing narratives.

I was brought up with a midwest American view of the Jewish heritage, the destruction of the temple and diaspora, Exodus, and the Holocaust and the rightness of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine.  I have a friend from Algeria (the two narratives are held by vast swaths of the population of the world!) who has been telling me of the narrative of the Christian invaders, and the Turkish conquest, and finally the European Colonization, of which the establishment of Israel is a part, and the promises by the Syrians and the Egyptians that the Palestinians would have the right to return once Israel was defeated.

Everybody has leaped to trying to solve the strategic problem, thinking they knew what the right answer was, BEFORE THERE HAS BEEN A CLEAR PRESENTATION AND AGREEMENT WHAT THE ISSUE WAS! (Or, issues are…)

How can you hope to reach any kind of agreement, or reach a plan to go forward towards a constructive future, if nobody can agree what the elephants in the room are? And even refuse to talk about or acknowledge what the other side thinks might be the elephants? And get insulted when you mention that the elephants they talk about when they speak in Arabic or Hebrew are not the problems they discuss when they are speaking English?

I think trying to make a clear presentation and acknowledgement of the two different narratives would be a much better place to start, than continuing to try the same-old same-old of discussing strategic solutions.

A. We’ve tried the strategic solutions before, and B. You could present and acknowledge the two different narratives tomorrow.  Instead of pontificating a proposed solution, you could ask to see if your understanding of the problem is correct. It might go a lot further.