Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
I'm reading a really great article by Scott Atran Jeremy Ginges right now called How Words Could End a War (NY Times, January 24, 2009) that is actually on point for this thread.
Sorry, but I don't see this as that insightful, or even that hopeful. It's Israeli/Arab culture 101. The bizarre and patronising western attitude that the "Laws of Souk" apply to negotiating your peoples future, is well known and has always been useless. Look at the failure of the British and French peace and partition plans in 1929 and 1948.

As Rex says
They found it so difficult to agree on a common narrative, however, so they set it aside to focus instead on technical and material issues where it was easier to discuss and reach agreement.