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If anyone were to read a newspaper almost anywhere on this planet, it would be very easy to conclude that Israel and the "Jews" are the only reason there is no peace in the Middle East. In one-way or another, it seems that Jews are responsible for all the ills of this planet. This would be easy to conclude just by looking at all the resolutions from the United Nations.

The funny thing is that, in most conflicts in the Middle East and Africa over the last 50 years, Israel was not involved. The conflicts in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen, just to name a few, took many times the lives all of Israel's conflicts. The wars in Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Iran-Iraq, and the Congo collectively took millions of lives. Yet even with those horrific deaths, the United Nations has targeted Israel with more negative resolutions than any other nation or any other people.

Today, Israel faces new challenges. Regrettably, many of those challenges are one-sided. Israel is being put in a very precarious position. After Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip, turmoil and an internal struggle brought Hamas to power. Over the last few years, more than 6,000 rockets were launched into southern Israel while the international community remained deaf to the cries of the Jews. Even today, the rockets remain a daily occurrence.

When Israel invaded Gaza in an attempt to put an end to the rocket attacks, she was berated by the U.N. and the international community. The victim of the rocket attacks had suddenly become the villain. Even in the United States, at least several major news polls blamed Israel, not Hamas. Hardly anyone or any nation uttered a word in the defense of Israel. Some of the harshest attacks came from the American media. One prominent newsman, while interviewing President Barack Obama recently, equated the Nazi treatment of the Jews to Israeli treatment of the Palestinians. To the president's credit, he said there was no equivalency.

Maybe the biggest problem the Israeli government and people have is security that no one is talking about. If Israel gives back any, most, or virtually all the land taken in the 1967 war, who will guarantee the peace?

There is also a question of the 600,000 or more Jews that lost their homes in the Arab world in the late 1940s and early ‘50s. Why is there no resolution for their losses? It's a fair question that very few are discussing.

Is there any government that will protect Israel or the Israeli population? Israel has never lived in peace without her own deterrence. No foreign government has offered to provide troops to ensure any treaty thus far. With the speed of governmental changes around the globe, it would be fair to ask how ironclad are any treaties Israel signs?

Maybe Israel should ask Saudi Arabia or other oil giants for enough money to build a barrier to keep both sides apart! Oh, I forgot, Israel tried to build a security fence to the consternation of most of the world.

It would be a fair question to ask President Obama and other world leaders how can Israel protect its citizens. Israel has made it clear in the past that it doesn't want foreign combat troops on her soil.

When President Obama recently spoke in Cairo, he never mentioned that the vast majority of the Islamic population lives under dictatorships of one form or another. All too often, the United States was in "bed" with these evil people. The president also forgot to mention the incredible disparity of income in the Islamic world. What he should also have told the world is that we are willing to work with and listen to the cries of injustice the people feel in their struggles.

Until everybody is willing to listen to reason and the hate mongers on both sides step back, peace will not take hold. Any treaty must come with guarantees of protection for all sides. Dwelling on past grievances will never bring resolution to either side. The rewards for peace must far outweigh the cost of war. Peace will come when the futility of war is recognized by all people.

Maybe it can best be summarized by the words of King Croesus who ruled over Lydia in Asia Minor from 560-546 BCE: "In peace sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons."

Carl Resnick is a resident of Raritan and a local businessman.