I had to take some time to get some perspective about The Land. I've been driving, imaging, and talking my way from north to south, taking stock of what is happening in this part of the world.The other day, taking a care package out to my son at his pre-military training program, I stopped off at the Rami Levi on the Ramallah by-pass, in Sha'ar Binyamina. Big time settler territory in the Territories. They have an excellent selection of cookies, chips, and bottled ice tea.
Well, they have a lot of other things there, as well. In fact, it's one of the best stocked stores in the region--products from everywhere. It's a wonderfully cosmopolitian supermarket by anyones standards. It's also filled with Israelis and Palestinians from Ramallah and surrounding communities. It looks like any suburban stripmall parking lot.
Don't look for a Third Intifada anytime soon. It ain't going to happen. In the territories, business is booming. Construction here and in Israel proper (whatever THAT means) means jobs, money, and consumption.
This is the theme of a good piece by Tom Gross in the WSJ on the real shape of peace, and this is where change will occur. He's right. Peace will happen the way it should--person to person; buying and selling.
Posts
