The latest peace plan put forward by the US by has been met by the Palestinians with sadness and despair - and the fear of more violence. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

Most of us want to see a just peace in the Middle East, especially between Israelis and Palestinians. For some, it has been a life-long dream. I know many people for whom it has been their life’s work. We all know that the problems are all but intractable, but until and unless peace is achieved that work will go on; our dreams will continue. Given the events of last week, that’s just as well.

However much we may yearn for peace – as Christians, Jews, Muslims, people of faith or not – our yearning is as nothing set alongside the yearning, and hoping against hope, of most of the people living in the Holy Land: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

I say “most”, because some in the region have a vision that excludes the other. The far Right in Israel, including some religiously-inspired settler groups, yearn for a Greater Israel – devoid of Palestinians – stretching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. After the unveiling last week of President Donald Trump’s vision for peace, they feel the initiative is now with them, at home as well as in Washington: no Israeli prime minister can form a government without their participation. Then there are those in the West Bank, Gaza, and around the region who continue to reject the right of the state of Israel to exist and who seek its destruction. Many of them, too, are religiously inspired, or claim religious authority for their extreme views.