The idea of installing state-of-the-art cameras around the age-old site sacred to generation upon generation of Jews and Muslims and streaming the video footage online seems the perfect solution to the bloody conflict over the Temple Mount. Why didn’t we think of it before? Why don’t we install similar cameras around mosques, churches and monasteries, which have become desirable targets in pyromaniacal Jewish circles? And why deprive the Palestinian olive groves so attractive to rioters sporting large Jewish skullcaps on their heads? Miniature cameras could be pinned onto the uniform shirts of Israel Defense Forces soldiers, much as the police will soon be doing. This might make them think more before using their weapons.
Smart and creative management is essential under conditions of occupation, and could minimize the damages caused by it. On the one hand, 2½ intifadas, hundreds of kilometers of walls and thousands of deaths, including of one prime minister, are a reminder that managing the occupation costs us dearly. On the other hand, countless attempts to resolve the conflict using conventional tools such as negotiations, UN resolutions and sanctions have not yielded results. The messianic zealotry blended with radical nationalism that has taken hold of the Zionist religious camp is gaining strength. On top of it all, politicians hungry for publicity add fuel to the fire. At the same time, the secular pragmatic peace camp is being emptied of content and with it, hope for ending the conflict.
