Even Israel's unilateral pullout from Gaza in 2005 didn't stem the chaos, with the coastal strip deteriorating into anarchic world of gang wars and attacks on Israel that invite retaliation.
STUMBLING BLOCKS
Years of polls show both sides want a state living in peace next to the other state, but their leaders have proved unable to overcome the historic stumbling blocks, especially control over Jerusalem and a solution for Palestinian refugees from the 1948-1949 war that followed Israel's creation.
Israel's grim reality is typified by extreme security -- guards checking bags for bombs at the entrances to buildings, ex-generals routinely elected to positions of leadership, the military maintaining a strong influence in the country.
Palestinians suffer daily. Israeli roadblocks stop them from moving freely in the West Bank, Gaza is often cut off from the world, their economy is stifled and their lives are dominated by the ever-present Israeli soldier, bureaucrat or roadblock.
Now Israel is building a barrier along the West Bank, ostensibly to stop suicide bombers from entering Israel. It's a wall that marks a border in time -- hopes of peaceful coexistence in the past, a reality of violence and hatred in the present.
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