Will Ulrich: From he outside, trying to make sense of a conflict

The news has been excruciating for weeks now. We've read it. We've seen it. In this epoch of the Internet, I'm sure many of you have been getting e-mails from those with opinions and from those with first-hand knowledge.

The situation in the Middle East has tumbled to ground lower than any the world has seen in decades. Parties that less than a year ago seemed poised for peace are now at loggerheads. Palestinians and Israelis are crossing lines that seemed so neatly drawn, so secure only months before.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is extraordinarily complex. It is the subject of sprawling research here and at other great universities throughout the world. There are experts -- journalists, statesmen and academics -- who know many of the complexities, many of the sticking points. There are, I'm sure, literally hundreds of undergraduates here at Penn who have a much better grasp of the issues involved than I do.

I am not an expert on the region, and as such, I don't feel comfortable doling out policy advice.

I don't know what's the best way for the region and the world to proceed. I just know that the way I think about the situation differs drastically from the mindset that fuels many of those on the front lines.

For me, the conflict is about pragmatic concerns. It's about establishing policies and boundaries that allow for the maximal level of safety. In my mind's eye, it's more like a zoning battle than a holy war.

Supposing that the ultimate object of any peace process is the creation of two states that are able to coexist alongside one another, I cannot help but conclude that the stuff that will make for a lasting peace is boring and logistical.

This is not a conflict that either side will "win." It's not about who has the moral high ground or who succeeds in convincing the globe of the superiority of their case.

It's about who gets to erect a building on plot of land. It's about what roads are open and where fences are built.

Obviously, this pragmatic mindset is easy for me to have.

I'm neither Jewish nor Muslim. I'd like to visit Jerusalem, but it's not a spiritual home for me. There's nothing that prevents me from viewing the quagmire in the Middle East as a problem about nuts and bolts.

What strikes me most about the news I receive is how profoundly different folks on the fault lines see things.

Nicholas Kristof's column in last Friday's edition of The New York Times was tough to read. In it, Kristof interviewed Palestinian children in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip.

In his discussion with the kids, he found that children there didn't aspire to lives as firefighters or doctors. Instead, they wanted to grow up to be shahid, martyrs who take their own lives in the process of blowing up Israeli citizens.

Most heartbreaking was the cute 8-year-old who proudly brandished a photo his parents had taken of him clutching an AK-47. When Kristof first engaged him, the little boy lied and said that his brother had died as a shahid. Only later in their talk did the kid admit -- with his head hung -- that his brother was alive and had never done anything so admirable.

In some sense, both sides of the conflict are to blame for the twisted views that this poor kid holds. The culture around the 8-year-old breeds his behavior, and the mood of that culture stems both from the faults of an oft-derelict Palestinian leadership and the Israeli tanks that have entered the West Bank.

What is unmistakable is the gulf that separates this emotional milieu of this poor kid from the mindset that I have about the conflict.

It's understandable why pragmatism is difficult for the folks on the ground. Israelis and Palestinians have to deal with the pain of watching their friends and family fall.

When you consider how tough it is for peace to prevail in Northern Ireland -- which hosts a conflict between parties who share English and Christianity -- one can't help but appreciate how tough it is for the Palestinians and Israelis to stick to brass tacks.

I understand why the minds of so many have moved beyond logistics. I just can't help but think that no real progress will be made until the parties get back to the boring stuff.

Who the hell needs more drama anyway?

Will Ulrich is a senior Philosophy major from the Brox, N.Y.

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