Reading Response to Armstrong 1-4

In this response I'd like to focus on Chapter 3, the City of David. One of the major themes from this chapter that caught my attention was the importance of leadership and how that affected the relationships between the different people groups of the region. Although the Israelites basically moved in on Jebusite territory, Armstrong describes a relatively peaceful coexistence that seems to be led by David. He incorporated some of the existing Jebusite officials into his administration, "[indicating] that the Israelites did not yet consider it a sacred duty to hold aloof from the people of the country" (39). She then mentions how there might be Jebusite blood in the royal family, and she also describes a rather complicated story of conflicting lineages in the priesthood. She writes, "Nevertheless, the sight of an Israelite and a Jebusite priest serving side by side was emblematic of the coexistence that David wanted to establish in Jerusalem" (40). It seems that during this time, over 3000 years ago, peace was promoted from the top down. I would guess that there's not a lot of information about everyday life and conflict between the Israelites and the Jebusites, but what has been recorded indicates coexistence that's favored by a strong leader. It makes me wonder about the situation today and how effective a a strong and peace-promoting leader(s) would be. How well would the common people respond to a leader who radically supported a peace process? Would he make much of a difference? It just makes me wonder... because I know that the conflict between the Jebusites and Israelites was not nearly as deeply ingrained in history and the past as the conflict is today, but (at least from these readings), it seems that a strong leader was able to effectively establish peaceful coexistence. I don't know who that could be, or how they would even come to power in the "democracy" of Israel, but I have to suspect that the peace process must at least start with Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are in support of it. That may seem obvious or trite, but this chapter really got me thinking about that.