It is useless harping about who is to blame for the present situation in the Middle East unless we identify the causes. These causes are all there for everyone to see, written in black on white in the book revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike; namely the Holy Bible and the interpretation given to these verses by each religion.
Quote: "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates". - Genesis 15:18.
"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God". - Genesis 17:8.
"There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Maob, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city". - Numbers 24:14b-24
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the Earth"- Isaiah 11:11, 12.
The point is this: Are we going to take the Jewish interpretation of these verses as correct and therefore concede that the Jews have a divine justification for their invasion of Palestine and for their brutal repression and mass deportation of Palestinians from "the land wherein" the Jews themselves "art strangers", and to take it "for an everlasting possession", to "have dominion" over those lands, and destroy all the children of Sheth?
Or do we rather consider the Islamic interpretation as correct, whereby these verses in the Bible are not deemed genuine and are rather considered to be an addition by Jewish writers to justify the invasions of Arab land by Jewish tribes? (Islam also objects to the idea that Allah could invoke people to commit injustices against other people and to cause suffering to others.)
Or finally, are we going to subscribe to the Christian interpretation, which relies heavily on Jesus Christ`s interpretation of the Bible in the New Testament, (which is not recognised by the Jews); whereby the "promised land" mentioned in the Bible "is not of this world but in heaven" because all earthly possessions are the dominion of the Devil?
And again, that God has no "favourites and considers everybody according to his deeds", irrespective of race or nationality, because through Christ, everybody "from the four corners of the earth" is called to join him in his kingdom in Heaven, as long as he becomes "the chosen" one by ridding his soul of egoism and abides by the greatest commandment of all: that of love for others, who are all his brethren, because all human beings are God`s children, our common father?
Are we therefore really ready to accept the idea that the Jews are the super race of God and that therefore these "strangers" have a divine mandate to throw the Palestinians out of their homes, to deport them or place them in concentration camps and to take and colonise their lands?
Because here lies the crux of the problem. Unless we seriously address this basic religious issue, which is at the basis of this conflict between Jews and Palestinians, there can be no solution to the Middle East conflict. Not now. Not ever.