More fighting in what is known as the Levant region of the Middle-East has broken out. These ancient hatreds and simmering hostilities never seemed to end. So, when more fighting breaks out, we are never surprised. As basebsll great Yogi Berra once said … it is deja vue all over again.

What else would you expect when tribes that trace their origins back to antiquity compete for scarce lands amidst competing claims for legitimacy and sovereignty. In recent times, the Jews and Palestinians have been at it since since the United Nations granted the former tribe a homeland in the region in 1947. After the horrors of the holocaust, that seemed like a good idea at the time. With support from their various allies, both sides have been at it ever since (sometimes in hot wars and sometimes in cold wars). This nonsense has gone on as long as I’ve been alive.

I’m not going to untangle the middle-east mess. I’m neither that smart nor do I have enough time to write a several volume treatise on the topic. It would take that much effort to do the subject justice. But I am intrigued by a smaller issue … the rather futile efforts to assign blame in this latest outbreak. I will jump in on that exercise.

From what I see, most in the ‘West’ side with Israel. After all, the Gaza- based Hamas group fired thousands of rockets and ‘invaded’ nearby Israeli settlements. Stories of kidnappings of innocents and of unspeakable atrocities on Israeli children and the elderly sparked immediate outrage. What we do not know is whether these stories are substantially factual, given the capacity of cyberspace to be used in manipulative ways. Even if valid, the infliction of harm goes in both directions.

Time to step back a moment. I grew up in the era when the fledgling state of Israel was a weak underdog. I read the classic book, Exodus, by Leon Uris. Who could not sympathize with the brave Jewish settlers fighting against enemies on all sides merely to establish a place to live. Over the next several decades, that sense of the Israelis always being on the brink of destruction remained. That has to be a horrendous psychological burden … living with the daily reality that you might be attacked at any time or, worse, de driven into the sea and into extinction.

At first, I thought I had no comparable experience. Recently, however, I’ve changed my opinion on that. I live in an oasis of progressivism … Madison Wisconsin or Dane County. We are surrounded by rural areas that are firmly in the hands of Maga enthusiasts. We now often discuss the risks associated with taking a trip into the lovely countryside, especially if you sport a ‘Trump for prison in 2024′ sticker on your auto. Okay, I’m being facetious here but only marginally. There is real hostility across the cultural divide in America. Actual violence during the next election is not out of the question. I can understand the strains if you live daily with real threats to your very life.

I have been particularly taken by the reactions to domestic supporters of the Palestinian side on this conflict, especially on college campuses. I saw pro-Palestinian protestors adjacent to the U. Of Wisconsin campus. Calls for disciplinary action against them were rightly dismissed by csmpus suthorities. On the east coast, several Harvard groups expressed sympathy for those suffering in the Gaza strip, essentially assigning blame on Israel. Some students have lost future job offers for expressing such opinions. Other officials have called for the public exposure of these students, assuming that there ought to be a penalty for expressing their 1st amendment protected opinions. This knee jerk reaction smarts of 1950s era McCarthyism. Under no condition do we want a return to those days of censorship and intimidation.

Where do I stand? I stand firmly against getting on a tautological merry-go-round. Hamas is guilty of terrorism. But Israel is guilty of forcing suffering Palestinians into unspeakable living conditions with no hope for the future. But the Israelites are justified in their paranoia and the need for security given their tenuous situation. And is it not unreasonable for the Palestinians to erupt in outrage after decades of suffering. Who could blame them? This is an endless, self-perpetuating circle.

Here is the problem. There is no off switch to this ride. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.’

I wish I had a solution, or even a reasonable first step toward a solution. I don’t, not even close. However, I will say that there are ample sins on BOTH sides of this tragic issue. And the further we go around this endless merry-go-round, the more likely that unspeakable end games come into play. Will Hezbola enter the conflict, widening the bloodshed into a regional affair or worse. Will the Israelis begin entertaining some form of genocide within the Gaza strip as a ‘final’ solution. (I seriously doubt that would get beyond the fantasy stage, but my geriatric pessimism continues to grow.)

We currently have important problems to deal with today. Global warming threatens our eco-system and the species. The last year for which we have data was the hottest on record. Or take hyper-inequality, the spiraling dynamic of more and more accruing into the hands of fewer and fewer. This concentrates power into the control of the few, threatening our chances for social order or fairness. And we have the specter of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Right now, we have no idea where this rapid change in technology might lead. However, we do understand that we must get ahead of the curve if an unimaginable apocalypse is to be avoided.

Two lessons are staring us in the face. (1) We must reorder our priorities to focus on the real perils facing us. These are mostly global in character, not local. Their solutions will demand global cooperation. (2) We must address the local and provincial challenges, no matter how emotional, with a new paradigm. More conflict is not the answer to anything. Substantive solutions must rely on understanding, objectivity, civility, compassion, and compromise.

In the end, we all share the same planet. We must either learn to love one another as brothers and sisters or perish together in isolated folly.