So – what if, someday, somehow, Jerusalem could host the Summer Olympics, with all of the surrounding nations hosting key elements of the Games?
ï‚Ÿ What if the opening and closing ceremonies could be held in Jerusalem, with
ï‚Ÿ Lebanon, long known as a tourist destination, taking charge of the hospitality?
ï‚Ÿ The Palestinian Authority recognizing the tourism possibilities, and arranging extensive tours of Biblical sites within its areas?
ï‚Ÿ Egypt hosting some of the water events?
ï‚Ÿ Saudi Arabia leading the equestrian events, in honor of its namesake horse breed?
ï‚Ÿ Imagine a spectacular marathon run from an archeological site in Jordan into Israel –

Impossible! Preposterous! There’s a war going on, terrorists and dictators destroying everything they touch. The current proposals for peace are tired and obsolete – “land for peace” results in more bombs, ever closer to all parts of Israel; “ceasefires” are hudnas, opportunities for re-armament for terrorists; international peacekeeping forces are toothless, unable and/or unwilling to do anything more than watch war preparations with binoculars. We need something different.

So – it would take perhaps 2 generations – 40-50 years – before such a Games could happen. But think of the consequences of even the preparation; we’ve seen it with each Games:
ï‚Ÿ The host country upgrades all of its infrastructure – roads and all methods of transportation, housing, communications, utilities;
ï‚Ÿ People worldwide watch, or better yet visit and participate in a spectacle that [generally] shows the best of human competition and cooperation.

Think of some of the current problems of the Middle East, and how such a regional Games might help:
 Most Arab countries suffer from high unemployment rates, a dictatorial ruling class, high poverty rates, little or no middle class. They have high numbers of young males, many educated with college degrees and nothing to do. Idle hands are the Devil’s, the saying goes, and such people are ready prey for extreme, violent talk that blames “the other” and promises a quick fix for what appears to be a future of little hope.
 Building and upgrading a country’s infrastructure requires workers of all skills and levels, and many would need to be engineers, architects, construction workers, communications technicians, translators, electricians, plumbers, and many other professions that make up the middle classes throughout the world. The Arab host countries could create and/or enhance a middle class that would in turn help those nations for generations after the Games.

Worldwide, the Jihadis offer no alternatives; they emphasize and demonstrate destruction. It’s no accident that terrorists have tried to blow up newly [re]built schools, clinics, hospitals, shops; they know nothing else. The Olympics are that something else. The pride and energy that such an overarching project would require could literally steamroll the Jihadist philosophy into oblivion.