The 72-hour Hamas/Israel ceasefire expires at midnight tonight (2.5 hours from now Jerusalem-time). We hope that further negotiations can lead to a longer break in the hostilities. Against that backdrop, weve spent the whole day discussing the broader winds of both positive change and troubling turmoil swirling around the region in recent years. Here are a few lines, offered as food for thought, that I scribbled down from the various officials we met with today... The only constant in the Middle East is instability. Any time you see a national border thats a straight line, there are probably going to be problems. It means its artificial. Democracy takes time to brew. Its not about just suddenly being given the right to vote. Its also a culture; its a mindset; its about planting and growing the grassroots. If you dont tend to the Middle East, it comes back to bite you in tender places. Coming up, a visit to the West Bank.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:26:54 +0000