Mideast Peace Process Needs New Brokers

As Secretary of State John Kerry finalizes his proposal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, the reality on the ground does not give much cause for optimism. Jewish settlements are expanding, eating up land that would otherwise become part of a future state of Palestine. Radical Jewish settlers threaten violence against both Palestinians and Israeli soldiers with so-called "price tag" attacks that even the Israeli government has denounced as terrorism. Palestinian rockets are fired almost daily from Gaza against Israeli towns. Hamas continues to reject Israel's right to exist - within any borders - and openly renounces nonviolent resistance and respect for human rights. Just this week, a spokesman for Hamas' education ministry declared that "Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and the Magna Carta are all alien to our culture."