It is a truth universally acknowledged

… that any single conflict in possession of a good six and a half decades of misfortune, must be in want of a closure.

Pride and prejudice; two elements that, perhaps more than most, have sustained the longevity and abiding intensity of a struggle that has been the hallmark of Israelis and Palestinians, Jew and Arab alike for much of the 20^th century and, to date, all of the 21^st.

But there can also be a certain pride in being able to fix something that has been broken for generations (Tikkun Olam) and in being prejudiced against a future where one year merges into the next without any lasting form of peace to mark its passage.

Will 2012 be the exception to such a transition? Or does the cycle continue ever onward, taking all of us with it?

This may be the year when we find out the answer to that question.

Might there be a pleasant surprise waiting for us?

Or is the surprise one that we must source from within ourselves?