Though Arab and Jew are by lineage the rival sons of Abraham, any connection binding their brotherhood seems to have evaporated long ago in the arid climes of a region that gave birth to monotheism by way of the crucible of environment -- a landscape more fiercely accommodating to scorpions and birds of prey. Solitude and austere surroundings seem to incubate prophets and lunatics, and deserts seem to augment the propensity of souls towards extremes – therein dividing the human spirit into frontiers of darkness and light. For the Arab, visceral blood feuds that flourish beneath the awareness of conscious memory and take on the character of instinct serve to choke off that quality of mercy in response to the “other,” and it requires a Herculean effort to swim upstream against the currents of mistrust that boil within fragile veins. It then becomes second nature to multiply reasons for war in one’s quiver, while any open hand reaching across that invisible...(Read Full Article)