Ten years ago, a right wing Israeli politician used the advent of Sukkot to make a point. Ostensibly the point was about the rights of Jews to worship at the site of Temple of the first and second kingdoms, but only the naive failed to miss the connection to the prospect of progress towards a final status agreement that would entail concrete compromise on sacred cows like Jerusalem, Refugees, settlements and borders. A democratic president was making a concerted effort to coax the leaders into a compromise, and despite multiple failed attempts, the finish line was apparent. And like a spark into a pile of oiled rags, the gesture had it’s intended effect. The intransigent on both sides pounced on the initial spasm of violence as proof positive peace was an illusion and steadfastness the only rational alternative. Cries to resist, defend, whether in Hebrew or Arabic, fanned the flames and the spark surged into an inferno that engulfed the Holy Land for another four years.
And here we are again. In the post holiday haze the “faithful” are pounding the drums of fealty to Jerusalem’s stones once again, in fear that the determined push towards compromise will mean just that: compromise – an eternal promise to share what in the world view of the zealots can only be truly honored by one side alone. The impressionable are once again picking up stones, cudgels and loading canisters of tear gas to meet the rising tide of rage. Ten years have passed and it seems that once again blood will flow down the wadis of the Holy Land, carrying the hope of peace away in its deluge.
