Why has the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict been so difficult to resolve and what could be done to improve the situation?

Answer 1

All of the parties involved have made strong and deliberate actions to avoid a peaceful settlement. Israelis are continuing to build settlements in the West Bank and Blockade Gaza, preventing the Palestinians from properly developing a State of their own. Palestinian organizations like Hamas refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish State and only recognize "partial truces" with it. American benefactors support Israel without encouraging it to abandon the practice of the settlements. Arab Nations do not try to engage Israel openly and honestly and believe in holding the Palestinians in refugee camps while they continue to demand that Israel host all of the refugees, something which they know is a non-starter with Israel.

The most important thing that any one person can do to improve the situation is to argue for a liberal, peaceful solution over gaining everything for his chosen side. Neither side has a monopoly on justice. What counts the most on an individual level is that you argue against fervent supporters from your side. It means that if you are Pro-Israel, argue for an Israel that represents the highest aspirations of Jewish Ethics and character, that is willing to withdraw the settlements and grant true independence to a Palestinian State. It means that if you are Pro-Palestine, argue against allowing children to read textbooks with Anti-Semitic materials, argue for the inexorable presence of the Jewish State of Israel, and support a road to peace that is not paved with qassam rockets and the deaths of schoolchildren (both Palestinian and Israeli).