I am a life-long pessimist, and the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has not been such as to alter my disposition. Frequently events are reported in the news, such as the election of a new Israeli government, that cause many people to exclaim in hope: Maybe now there will be peace!
And there is never peace. Someone, on one side or the other, always manages to screw up the chance for peace, if there ever really were one.
So I do not now want to express unseemly hope. As I look at the news, the cease-fire which is little more than a day old has already begun to crack around the edges. I know that it is possible that by the time you read this diary, the thing may have already fallen apart.
Still, it is possible that the speech given today by Ehud Olmert might be an opportunity from which something resembling peace might arise, if the rejectionist voices can be silenced, if they can refrain, as they historically have not, from throwing up some obstruction.
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