Bad.  Really, really bad.  The situation in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians has become so very difficult to examine because external interests have become so much embedded within it.  There are so many vested interests in the conflict that it almost is beyond the inhabitants present.  I think that anyone can draw a line from the establishment of the Israeli state and the unrest that is present in the region as a response.  I would say that from this complexity, more intricacy has emerged, confounded by even more anger and intensity on both and multiple sides. The fact that Islamic organizations point to the situation in the disputed territory as evidence of their ongoing war with both Israel and America has helped to make a problem in the region as something that has global implications.

For the United States, the most recent challenge in the region is the fact that one of the major demands of the United States in the past decade has been the need to hold democratic elections.  The Palestinians did hold a general election and, much to the chagrin of the United States, the anti- United States, Hamas, party won.  This has helped to create a schism in the Palestinian governing body between the Pro- U.S. governing body and the more authentically viewed organic government of Hamas.  Such confusion only highlights how challenging the problems of the region are.

The current situation in the Middle East is completely screwed up.

Right now, the Israelis still say that they think the Palestinians should have their own country.  But they are building more and more settlements in the West Bank and the Palestinian parts of Jerusalem.  So they do not look like they are trying very hard to make peace.

The Palestinian government is in a state of total disarray.  One party controls the West Bank and the other party controls Gaza.  Hamas, the party that controls Gaza, does not recognize Israel's right to exist.  Israel has Gaza blockaded and the economy there stinks.

So things are looking bad for peace at the moment...