Archive Entry #23: May 2, 2002

The Middle East has been a daunting geo-political challenge for generations. Aside from an occasional success (e.g. the Camp David accords from 36 years ago) little has been done to bring the conflicted sides closer together. Currently, international attention is understandably on Israel’s and the Palestinian’s neighbors to the northeast, but the challenge by no means has dissipated.

Today’s entry reflects the objective observer voice I have tried, almost without exception, to bring to politically charged issues in “And from Bill...” columns over the years. Many have been the occasions when I didn’t claim to have the solution to a vexing social, political, or international problem, but did claim to have a needed word of caution, or restraint, or invitation to a more sensitive, inclusive perspective from all involved.

In today’s entry you will discover that in 2002 I didn’t know how to fix the Middle East (nothing’s changed, by the way!) I hope you will also discover that I still had a word that deserved to be heard.

COMING NEXT: From September 2004, a column about the second hot topic on which I have been willing to take a strong stand in my column (the first was capital punishment - click HERE for archive entry #6). Prepare to disagree with me! Find it HERE.