I'm not -too- sure how long people have been fighting over the Middle East but it's at least a millennium. Jerusalem has been fought over for longer than that.
So - with that in mind how is it that -anybody- thinks the problem is solvable now? Citizens, who want peace as long as war isn't more profitable, of the last thousand years weren't any dumber than today's citizens. The inhabitants themselves are the ones who have to make peace happen if it's going to. So far (and a thousand years is some bunch of time) it ain't.
All "civilization" has done is given heavier weapons to both sides. It takes longer for the pot to boil but when it does it will throw the soup farther.
Quote:
"But we can't stand buy and nod sadly when armed conquest SUCCEEDS. We must stop it. At any cost. That's the whole concept of civilization, that's what sets us apart from animals.
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Cute. Tell that to a North American Indian. Tell it to a Hawaiian islander. Tell it to an Ainu. Civilization, and thus barbarism, is very much in the eye of the beholder.
What should Be Done Now? Simple. Seal the borders. Leave. Call in a year or so and see what happened. If the people had any sense they'd get rid of their "leaders", and then they'd have an even chance of learning to get along. It's no solution to the 'problem' but it's better than having the fighting and a bunch of international angst too.