Netanyahu really only pays lip service to peace. Other than Rabin, there hasn't been anyone who seemed genuinely interested in a 2 state solution on the Israeli end of things(although, Sharon made Netanyahu seem like a breath of fresh air).
And Hamas has vowed to eradicate Israel, and that they'll never acknowledge their right to exist. So there's another roadblock.
I know many Israelis living here in the states, either dual citizens, or straight up Israeli immigrants. I also know a bunch of Palestinians living here who have not applied for American citizenship so they can retain their Palestinian identity (you can't get it back, is what they tell me).
Both sides are weary of the fighting, and some of each group actually know each other through me. They get along okay. The one thing they all pretty much agree on is eliminate the extremists and give the moderates what the hell they want.
I know this is but a cross section of only a percentage of both sides, but is that the general consensus? As a half Arab, I grew up hearing my Egyptian father disparaging Israel before he seemed to get tired of that rhetoric himself. By the time he entered the last 5 or 6 years of his life (during the intifada, too) he seemed to distill his hate down to a select few on both ends, which is where I find myself now and also which seems to be, as I stated earlier, what a lot of the transplanted parties here feel is the case. Is it different based on being here vs there?
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