Those of us who study communication are often surprised by the difficulty of reaching agreement and understanding each other. Communicating seems a task doomed to failure: we live on the edge of incommunication and mutual mistrust. Few conflicts are more paradigmatic in this respect than the one separating Israel and Palestine. There are physical walls in the Holy Land. But the mental walls are so high that they seem impassable.

On Friday, Mahmoud Abbas (or Abu Mazen), delivered to Ban-Ki-Moon a letter requesting recognition of Palestine as a state, and addressed the UN General Assembly. His words echoed the hopeful developments of recent months in the Arab world: "let us allow a Palestinian spring to live a normal life like the rest of the world". In New York, most delegates applauded enthusiastically. In Ramallah, a crowd celebrated his historic speech. What Abbas has done has high symbolic value. It should not be forgotten that the state of Israel emerged from a UN declaration.

What is Palestine asking for? Palestine's current "status" in the United Nations is that of a permanent observer. The Abbas government wants to be a member by right plenary session of the Executive Council , and seeks recognition of the 1967 borders in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip.

The strategic bid by Abbas, a 76-year-old political veteran, has put the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration on the defensive. Obama said last year that Palestine deserved a state. Now he says he still thinks so, but the United Nations is not the place to defend it.... Lieberman (the controversial Israeli foreign minister) hailed Obama's words at the UN as "the words of a friend." The U.S. has gone to futile lengths to avoid Abbas' speech in New York. Now it may have to veto a UN resolution. The Arab world will not exactly be satisfied.

The letter and speech have strengthened Abbas' precarious position both within Palestine (where Hamas accuses him of weakness) and before the international community. He claims to have the votes necessary to achieve his goal and can force a vote at the committee Security Council. Now, the "quartet" formed by the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the UN, is seeking negotiations between Palestine and Israel.

Both need peace. Israel sees how Palestine is growing in population and winning the demographic battle. Behind the wall, the Palestinians have problems of unemployment, poverty and supply, which place them on the brink of social explosion and push the five million Palestinians to despair. And that is of no interest to Israel either.

Peace in the Holy Land, which includes the "status" of Jerusalem, the cradle of the three great monotheistic religions, is of enormous importance. It is a time for great leaders, people with courage and conviction who are committed to peace, and to recover the climate of détente of 1993, when the historic greeting of Arafat and Rabin took place. It could be the moment for the European Union or Russia to exercise a new leadership in the region and revive a process that seemed moribund.

The last few days have provided interesting lessons on communication, on the value of dialogue and symbols, or the opportunity to look for the right moment. In any case, it is comforting to hear words like those of Abbas: "let us build bridges of dialogue and not walls of separation". Returning to open communication and trusting relationships is the most humane and, in this case, also the most practical thing to do. Naturally, there will be difficulties. But peace in the Holy Land deserves a historic turnaround.