Peace.

It seems as though we've been living with the conflict in the Middle East for so long, that it had become just another part of the landscape that is our world.

But now, there is hope of a new world order. When we think of the greatest events in this century, an end to the Palestinian antifada will be on the top of that list. Though this is yet a tenuous peace, just think of all the elements that had to align to form this peace. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government - which was required to execute the withdrawal from Gaza strip - narrowly won the motion by a mere 2 vote margin. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could not come to power until Yasser Arafat died. In a recent CBC Radio Interview, Ambassador Dennis Ross described Mahmoud Abbas as a man willing to set aside his pride for the future of his nation. A man without political ambition or agenda, but rather a quiet fellow with a reasonable will - a man already coined as "the peacemaker."

It was not enough to have the right people in power to bring about this agreement; the wrong people also needed to be out of the picture. It is certain that had Yasser Arafat been still alive today, the likeliness of pictures of handshakes and warm smiles would be eliminated. Before the assassination of Hamas leader Imail Abu Shanab in August 2003 and then Sheik Ahmed Yassin in March 2004, the extremist group was a deadweight loss preventing any sort of amicable ceasefire with Israel.

And so I've come to the conclusion: our world is definitely tipped to the scales of evil, suffering, trouble, and pain.

In a world where good and evil are perceived to be on equal footing, we are aggregiously misinformed. It is much harder to bring about good and peace than it is to stir up trouble and bring about pain. We fool ourselves if we think we're in a fair fight.

So the next question is, does the ends justify the means? Israel forces systematically eliminated the power of the Hamas group - assassinating all possible leaders and successors that threatened carry out its extremist methods. In a parallel universe, would Yasser Arafat have used a similar defense for his violent actions? Niccolo Machiavelli would have approved of such ruthlessness.

Sometimes I feel as though we, in the peaceful and pampered western world, do not fully appreciate the complexities of this world and fully understand what is required to do good. We sit on our moral high horse, reciting the tenets of "POGG" (peace, order, and good governance) that are enshrined in the Canadian Constitution, or worse yet, we are not even concerned with such things - we continue to shrug our shoulders, stick our heads in the ground, and sigh a breath of relief that we don't have to struggle with such issues in a free country. We neglect the price that is paid for our freedom, and the price required to forge freedom for others.

This reflects the youth of our Canadian culture. Like babes who are seeing the world for the first time, we collectively see the world in black and white. But the world exists in shades of grey, and hence it is easier to color in more darkness than erase it completely for white. It is easier to do than to un-do.

And thus, the gravity of this peace agreement between Palestine and Israel is fully appreciated. For their task is not to create peace, but to undo centuries of war. As much of an uphill battle this is, it is a testament of the human will that we continue to "strive, to seek, and never to yield." (Ulysses, Tennyson)