Israel has completed its withdrawal from land in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, despite resistance from Jewish extremists. We will see what we will see, but hopefully this will help to build at least some good will between the Jewish Israelis and the Palestinians. The problem is that there may still be too many people on both sides who are unwilling to compromise, and Israel's strong ties to the world's only superpower tend to give it an unfair advantage.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone on far too long and has cost far too many lives. While the Jewish desire for a safe haven is understandable, they went about trying to get one at the expense of another people, namely the Palestinians. What has resulted is that no one is safe in that part of the world. Of course, we in the United States can hardly be too critical of Israel since the Jewish Israelis merely followed a similar pattern as did the Europeans who came to this land and pushed aside the People Now Known as Native Americans.

I find it harder and harder to take sides in this mess, and mostly just want both groups of people to see beyond their own needs and learn to live together. There should not even be the need for two separate countries, because both groups should be able to share the same country. Perhaps this will happen some day, although I wonder if it will happen while any of us are still around to witness it.