Five thousand years and little has changed - except better weapons
It is easy to get the feeling that when it comes to the Middle East, the phrase "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" fits perfectly.
I was reading a National Geographic magazine from 1967 (December issue, to be exact) which had an article on the Israel-Egypt conflict at the time. Change a few names and dates, and you couldn't tell the difference between then and now.
Human nature has to radically change from its current primitive tribe state, or we will destroy ourselves.