One of the frustrations of a ‘Blog is that there are stories that you know all your friends would love, but you can’t tell properly because someone else involved in the actual events might Google for it ten years hence and object violently.

So let’s just say I know of a person with a serious psychological problem who was apprehended on his way to (he believed) solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. He was convinced that someone would frustrate his mission and was therefore in possession of offensive weapons. Although his intentions were good, given the security he was about to encounter and his absolute honesty, this approach was spectacularly foolhardy. Only a person who had, say, omitted to take essential medication would have been this silly.

I related the story over the phone to a friend in Israel—and it’s a hell of a lot funnier if you know the details—and her reaction actually made me laugh more than the farcical events I had described: “I wonder what his peace plan was?”…

After a little thought this question didn’t seem so pathetically hopeful. Whatever the idea was, it couldn’t have been any more crazy in its optimism than this one.