Roadblock to peace
The Berlin Wall crumbled. The Iron Curtain fell. So it is not impossible to believe that after 36 years of war, the past two of which have been increasingly violent with daily reports of street fighting, snipers and suicide bombers, that peace could be reached between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and most particularly that the Palestinians would be recognized and granted their strip of land. Israel’s Ariel Sharon stunned his nation and the world on Monday by stating he was ready to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and agrees with the terms of the “road map” to peace. The effort has seemed plausible since Mahmoud Abbas took office as Palestinian Prime Minister in April and within a month held a summit with Sharon.
Palestine, and now Sharon, had planned as soon as today to talk about the basics outlined in a U.S.- and U.N.-backed Mideast peace plan. But the one stumbling block to peace reared his ugly head once again on Tuesday. According to wire service reports, Yasser Arafat, in what must be an egomaniac’s grab for attention, forced a postponement of a summit to show that he – not Abbas – is in charge of negotiations with Israel.
If that is the case, the road map for peace might as well be stamped “you can’t get there from here.”
If ever a despot needed removed, it is Arafat. Palestinians wishing to live in peace rather than the night-and-day terror that Arafat wrought, need immediately to push for the Abbas-Sharon meeting. Yesterday wouldn’t have been soon enough.