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Difficult Days for Mideast Peace http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/opinion/23MON2.html October 23, 2000
Difficult Days for Mideast Peace
The cease-fire President Clinton tried to broker between Israelis and Palestinians last week never took hold and any early return to peace negotiations seems unrealistic. As a result, Israel has begun thinking about unilateral moves to disentangle its territory and economy from the Palestinians and Arab leaders have called for a temporary freeze on most diplomatic contacts with Israel. But no irrevocable steps have yet been taken, and such drastic actions still can be avoided if the coming days see a significant reduction in the violence that has killed more then 120 people and wounded thousands. Yasir Arafat's relatively moderate speech at the just-completed summit meeting of Arab leaders offers some encouragement. The meeting's final declaration harshly and unfairly condemned Israel for the violence and called on Arabs to refrain from any new diplomatic or economic relations with the Jewish state. But it carefully left the peace treaties that Egypt and Jordan have already signed with Israel intact. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan both bravely reaffirmed their faith in comprehensive, regional peace negotiations, while Mr. Arafat, the Palestinian leader, spoke of his desire for "permanent, just and comprehensive peace." But more than vague reassurances by Mr. Arafat will be needed to contain the current violence. He needs to give unambiguous instructions to the armed militia of his Fatah movement to pull its members back from further confrontations with Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers. He also needs to instruct the large and well-armed Palestinian police force to prevent stone-throwing teenagers and adults from approaching Israeli positions. He should have taken these steps weeks ago. He was expected to do so last week, after promising President Clinton that he would help impose a truce. He needs to do so now, to protect Palestinian lives and to keep alive any chance for the kind of peace he says he believes in. Israel must see that its army and police use the minimum force necessary and make sure that its civilians, including settlers, avoid vigilantism and stay away from trouble spots. Under pressure from Mr. Arafat's failure to deliver a cease-fire and from more hawkish Israeli politicians, Mr. Barak has now declared a "timeout" from the peace talks and ordered his lieutenants to draw up plans for walling off Palestinian population centers militarily and economically. Mr. Barak says he hopes that the timeout will prove temporary and that the plans for separation will never have to be carried out. If such plans do go ahead, it is hard to see how Israel will be able to achieve lasting security, or stable relations with its Arab neighbors. The next few months will be difficult. The latest violence has inflicted political and psychological traumas on both sides. The Clinton administration, in its waning months, will be less able to exert a calming influence, let alone nudge negotiators toward painful compromises. Meanwhile, Hamas and other declared enemies of peace have vowed to provoke new violence. Mr. Arafat must be seen to be making every possible effort to maintain peace, including avoiding provocative rhetoric and preventing further early releases of Hamas terrorists. He must also resist the temptation to declare Palestinian statehood on his own. Doing so would provoke Israel to move ahead with its separation plans and set back Palestinian hopes for an internationally recognized state and generous American economic assistance.
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