Israel, Palestine, and the Pursuit of Peace

The newest phase in the conflict between Israel and Gaza is on the minds of many.  By "on the minds of many," I mean to say that many people are discussing the conflict through Facebook posts, tweets, and comments.

Some people believe that Hamas has provoked Israel into its latest offensive.  They point to the continuing rocket attacks and the tactics of hiding weapons inside schools and hospitals as justification for laying the blame at the feet of Hamas.

Others believe that Israel is acting unjustly in this latest offensive.  They point to the civilian casualties and the previous sanctions against Gaza to say that Israel has caused this conflict.

Good luck getting these two viewpoints to reconcile.

While I have my opinions concerning this issue, I know that sharing them in this forum will do nothing to settle the issue.

For the purposes of this post, I will state this: for a state of peace to exist between the two sides, both sides (including the leadership of both sides) must want this state of peace to come into existence.

Perhaps this is what we can pray for when we see #PrayForPeace.  Rather than pray for a non-specific peace, pray that the leaders of Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and other organizations in the area will want peace and will work together for peace.  Until these leaders want peace, we will not see peace within the region.

For what else or who else can we pray?