the Palestinians did not lack direction; it was getting on that downbound train...

The path to hell is often subtle; the slope gentle but uniformly down. Most evangelicals will understand what the "downbound train" is; it is the inexorable slide from goodness into evil. The Arab Palestinians did it without subtlety; they denied that another group of humans had the right to exist on their ancestral lands. Now, just now, 55 years later, they may be starting to realize that violence and denial will not work against the Covenant people of Israel, who are the senior Palestinians and have been going on 3,000 years, since Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem.

Of course, I'm making far too much of a mere breeze that may or may not presage true winds of change for the Arab Palestinians. But a small story in today's Washington Post is encouraging. This extract summarizes rather nicely the great blunder the Arabs made:

Nusseibeh, a university president with little popular support, said the [2000] uprising – which erupted when Israel's previous, dovish government was offering the Palestinians independence on most of the lands they seek – lacked direction from the start.

Nevertheless, as my title indicates, there was a direction, albeit unintended -- straight down the path to hell. One can only hope that there is enough goodness left in the Arab people, and the will, to reverse their direction.