I'm not going to say "I told you so" because I don't like it when people say it to me.

But I did.

In my September 4 blog entry ("Middle East Peace Talks ... Again"), I declared (with my characteristic sense of undying optimism), "The current talks are ... doomed to failure."

Before you hail me as a prophet, however, it should be noted that it didn't take a genius to figure this out.

Abbas, the Palestinian president, seems to be a nice enough guy. He looks like somebody's white-haired grandpa and I really don't believe he's a terrorist like Arafat was. But the poor guy is trying to rein in large-scale terrorist elements in his constituency. He's also going against the grain of a culture plagued with deeply-embedded anti-Semitism. He's up against wealthy and powerful anti-Israel interests who won't so much as acknowledge Israel's right to exist. I can sum it up in four words: they hate Jewish people.

You can argue and reason with these people until you're blue in the face—and they'll still hate the Jews. The Jewish people, to them, are a sub-human race that descended evolutionally from monkeys or pigs. They should be exterminated like a nest of cockroaches. That's the thinking. Palestinian children read this garbage in their grade school textbooks.

And that's not all. They tell their young people that if they end up killing themselves (say, with a strapped-on explosive device) while murdering Jewish men, women, and children, they'll get a special reward—namely, a free pass to Paradise. They're promised that the death itself will hurt no more than a "pinch." Not only that, but the martyr (shahid) can vouch for family members also to gain entrance to Paradise when they die. And if the martyr is a male, he'll also be rewarded with 70 virgins when he gets there. (Sorry, ladies, no word yet about what you get.)

Not all Palestinians believe these things, but many (and some would say most) do. You can get all the documentation you need on Palestinian anti-Israelism at the MEMRI website, including actual transcripts of Arabic sermons by the mullahs (translated into English and other languages). It's always interesting to hear (or read) what Islamic spiritual leaders are telling their congregations.

This is what Abbas is dealing with. He has to talk and act tough or the foaming-at-the-mouth elements (like Hamas) will call him soft—or even worse, irrelevant.

So it was a foregone conclusion that the peace talks would fail. The only thing we weren't sure about was what the sticking point would be. As it turns out, it's those bothersome Israeli settlements in the West Bank. That's what's about to do in the peace talks this time.

All of which leads me to something I don't understand: why can't Jewish people live in the West Bank if they want to?

We hardly ever hear anyone complain about the many Arab settlements in Israel. In fact, they're all over the place. Please don't dispute me on this. Some of my favorite restaurants are in Arab towns in Israel. They're the best ones.

So Arabs can live in Israel but Jewish people can't live in the West Bank? (Sorry, I still can't bring myself to call it "Palestine.")

What's the rationale for this? What's good for the goose should also be good for the gander.

If all the Jewish settlers pack up and move back into Israel, will the Arabs in Israel agree to relocate to the West Bank?

True, the settlers tend to be a different breed. We all know that. They are more militant than your typical, secular Israeli. But still, if you leave them alone they pretty much keep to themselves. There have been a few unfortunate episodes involving settlers over the years, but every bushel basket has a bad apple in it somewhere. After all, people are people. Like a surgeon friend told us one time, "Once I open them up, they all look the same."

But my question is still valid. If Arabs can live in Israel, why shouldn't Jewish people live in the West Bank?

Is it because these prosperous, clean, well-run Jewish settlements provide such a contrast amidst the poverty and squalor of so much of the West Bank? Or is it because these little pockets of prosperity and liberty are seen as symbols of freedoms the Palestinian people don't enjoy? Like the freedom of association, for instance, or freedom of the press, or the right to a fair trial if one is accused of wrongdoing. Palestinians have none of these freedoms (at least, not in reality).

Check out the Palestine Facts website for an interesting discussion of the term "illegal" that's often used in the press to describe the Jewish settlements.

So that's why it looks like this round of peace talks is about to fail. Hillary and George (Mitchell), I think, put forth an heroic effort. Here's a word picture for you: they gathered Netanyahu and Abbas (and their aides) around a campfire, roasted some hot dogs, sang Coombya, and asked, "Now can't we all just get along?"

Seriously, they gave it their best shot. The opening speeches were hopeful and inspiring. But colliding cultures can create chaos—and that (along with the sad fact that the Palestinian culture is so deeply anti-Semitic) also figures into what has happened here.

The Israelis represent a highly-developed, modern, largely westernized culture while many of the Palestinians are still living in the 15th century. They even make the Egyptians and Jordanians uncomfortable. Both Egypt and Jordan are fortifying their borders with Gaza and the West Bank.

Now think about that. If the Egyptians and Jordanians had as much compassion for the poor, oppressed Palestinians as liberal politicians in North America and Europe do, wouldn't they be reducing border fortifications rather than increasing them?

Really, now—wouldn't they?

These emerging, harsh realities in the Middle East only go to reinforce what we've been saying all along: the only real hope for lasting peace in that part of the world is the coming of Sar Shalom—the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).

May He come soon.

One upside to all of this, however, is that the Obama Administration, the European Union, and perhaps other interested parties may now have a more realistic understanding of who the weak and unreliable partner is in these negotiations—and why these efforts persistently fail.

At least, I hope so.