The people of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait are mired in poverty and unemployment. What are their leaders doing to alleviate the situation? They take their pointing stick and say, “The United States’ presence in the Middle East is why you are poor. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinians is why you live so terribly.”

The people of the West Bank live in horrid conditions. What does their leader, Yassir Arafat, say? “You are living in these horrid conditions because of the unjust Israeli occupation.”

The people of Israel live in constant fear of Palestinian terror. What does their leader, Ariel Sharon, say? “You are living in fear because the Palestinians are a brutal people who will go to any means to achieve their goal.”

What if, instead of this, these leaders told the truth?

What if the Arab leaders stood up and said, “You are poor because we are corrupt and steal all of your money?”

What if Yasser Arafat stood up and said, “You are living in terrible conditions because I, too, am a dictatorial ruler who keeps you in refugee camps because I can’t generate any good social movements?”

And what if Ariel Sharon stood up and said, “You are living in fear because we unjustly build settlements and occupy a place where most of the people aren’t even Jewish?”

If we admitted these truths and defeated them we would begin marching on the road of peace.

There are those who say, “Palestinians are out to completely destroy the state of Israel — to drive the Jews into the sea.”

There are those who say, “Israelis want to drive the Palestinians completely into the sand.”

Are these statements valid? Of course they are. Are they true? Of course they are. But most Israelis and Palestinians do not feel this way. All most people want is a good roof, a plate full of food and to know that their kids are safe when they walk to school. Are most people willing to make a hard compromise for this? Yes. The Palestinians will have to accept a divided state, Gaza and the West Bank, and the Israelis will have to accept a state that is only 9 miles wide.

Our major obstacles now are those who believe that their faith is more important than the lives of other human beings. Both Judaism and Islam teach ‘love your neighbor.’ There are religious people on both sides — the settlers and the Islamic Fundamentalists — who do not adhere to this most common principle. These are people who hijack beautiful religions and turn them into carriers of hate and destruction. We, as Jews and Muslims, as Israelis and as Palestinians, must control our fanatics.

I believe in God.

But I implore, let’s fully embrace God and believe in each other as people on the road to peace. If we don’t, there is no hope.

Micah Bycel ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history.