The Israel/Palestine conflict is marked by two sides that simply can't communicate with each other.  The world-views of the people on these two sides are so entirely different that though they may look at one thing, they see totally different things.  Though they may hear the same words, they come to completely different conclusions.  Even if they were to try to talk about a single, well-defined issue, they would see the issue in such different terms that they would have little hope of coming to agreement.

The recent assassination of senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai is a delicious example.  Al-Mabhouh has been suspected in being involved in the taking and killing of Israeli soldiers and of smuggling weapons into Gaza.   He was found dead in a Dubai hotel.  Dubai police have issued arrest warrants for individuals thought to be Israeli operatives identified on video surveillance tapes.

Objectively, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed.  People with an Israeli-centric view of the Israel/Palestine conflict probably see this killing as justified.  Most likely, they see it as a murderer receiving due justice.  They may perceive this killing as having been well targeted, carefully avoiding killing of innocents.  They may take great pride in the success of the operation.  They almost certainly see the killing in the context of Israel's effort to protect the lives of Jews from evil Anti-Semitic murderers.

People with an Arab-centric view of the Israel/Palestine conflict probably see the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh very differently.  They might see the killing as murder.  They might describe it as state-sponsored terrorism.  They almost certainly would see it as one more in a long series of killings committed by Israel in her efforts to disenfranchise and suppress Palestinian people. 

It will surprise people on both sides of this conflict to know that people on each side see themselves as peaceful and their opponent as the embodiment of evil.  To communicate effectively with Jews, Palestinians have to understand that Jews see themselves as threatened, honorable people just seeking peace.  For Jews to achieve the peace they strive for, they have to understand that it was wrong to violently expel Palestinian families from their homes and villages and that it is reasonable for Palestinians to seek a peaceful return to those homes and villages.

Those of us who have come to see both sides of this conflict have learned to see that the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is no more and no less just than the killing of an Israeli leader with blood on his or her hands.  Those of us who have come to see both sides of the conflict can see the end of the conflict in sight, when Israelis finally invite their Palestinian brothers and sisters to return to rebuild those homes and villages and live in peace together.

Feldman is author of Compartments: How the Brightest, Best Trained, and Most Caring People Can Make Judgments That are Completely and Utterly Wrong (www.compartmentsbook.com).  He is also author of A Jewish American’s Evolving View of Israel (http://www.acjna.org/acjna/articles_detail.aspx?id=529).

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