Thanks to Dafna for her insightful article "Stories from the Box". Regretfully I'm unable to write in Ivrit, so...

Dafna wrote "everyone speaks out of a well-catalogued box..."

I agree. Here is a small segment from an article I wrote in our local newspaper, in a small Canadian island. This may be somewhat relevant to how people "catalogue" their opinions, impressions, etc.:

"The first observation that comes to mind is that when in conflict, people tend to project their worst nightmare on their adversary. Thus the Israeli settler appears to the Palestinians as an embodiment not only of those who take over, and claim ownership of their land by "divine edict", but also as an embodiment of all the crusaders and of the assorted conquerors who tormented and subjugated the Arab people of that land through many centuries. The rock-throwing, knife - wielding Palestinian crowd, shouting the Arabic battle cry "Adbach al Yahud" (slaughter the Jews) appears to an Israeli Jew as a direct extension of the anti-Semitic pogroms that were perpetrated against Jews throughout history, and ultimately, as an extension of the nazis who nearly succeeded with their plan to exterminate all Jews.

What starts as a political, territorial squabble quickly becomes a struggle for the right to exist at all. Add the religious dimension to the conflict, with all sides claiming divine justification or guidance for their acts, and you have the perfect recipe for immense cruelty and suffering.

"Canױt people be reasonable?" one may ask. My answer is no. People appear to be easily hypnotized by their own myths, symbols, and labels. No wonder it was precisely the conflict over "holy places" which provided the spark that ignited the current fire.

It may help to remember that from a certain perspective, a national flag is but a piece of cloth, and a "holy place" is really just a pile of rocks. The labels we carry that say "Serb", "Muslim", "Jew" and "Arab", "Hutu" and "Tutsi" are just those ׀ labels. Strip the labels away and you will find what? ׀ Another person, just like you and me. But hypnotized people canױt see past the symbols.

Nobody can "win" in that conflict. Both sides are now staring at the abyss; it becomes very clear to all just what the alternative to peace looks like. This is one of the worldױs most crowded regions; it faces staggering environmental problems that threaten to overshadow the present conflict if not addressed."