I am as firm a believer as can be that historical forces make the individual rather than vice versa but I do think that occasionally circumstances allow specific individuals to be the making or breaking point for major diverging possibilities, and as I saw all this unfolding, I thought to myself, what if Rabin had lived another 5 or 10 years? could he have secured a lasting peace with Arafat or someone like Barghouti? was that the last, best hope for any of this ending at all well? even as much bad blood as there was then, it seems like there's exponentially more now, and no one on either side with both the credibility and the willingness to make and domestically enforce a peace. or I dunno. but like I said to start, how incredibly depressing it is watch this grim, inexorable march to nowhere.