To hell for the sake of peace

The international community is dividing Israelis and Palestinians

The Middle East is balancing on the brink of war and peace. On the one hand, all mediators are showing a remarkable will for peace these days. In Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the trio of leaders from Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia, having discussed ways to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, strongly condemned the violence. And at a conference in Cairo, Arab oil ministers confirmed that they would not use “black gold” as a means of putting pressure on Israel and the West.

That same weekend, at a conference on globalization in Rome, Arafat’s loyal treasurer, Muhammad Rashid, shook hands with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with the words: “For the sake of peace, I am ready to go to hell, but I don’t need a path to heaven paved with terrorist attacks.” Thus, he condemned the Palestinian kamikazes, who blow up passers-by with them in the belief that they will go to heaven for this. Peres hinted that supporters of peace in Israel are in favor of negotiations with Yasser Arafat, although Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cannot stand him.

Yesterday, demonstrations swept across Tel Aviv, the participants of which (according to police, 60 thousand people) demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories and the dismantling of Jewish settlements there. Jewish and Arab writers fraternized, singers sang duets, and politicians spoke out against the new sweep in the Gaza Strip. The happy, fairytale-like resolution of the crisis around the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem also added to optimism. The Israelis did not storm the shrine and even refused to arrest the 123 militants who had been sitting in the besieged temple for five weeks. Some of them were released, another 26 people were escorted to Gaza, where their fellow countrymen greeted them as heroes.

And those 13 activists from Fatah and Hamas, who, according to the Israelis, have “blood” on them, were transported to Cyprus, where they are now awaiting flight to Western Europe. The Europeans will discuss where exactly today. Now, individuals labeled terrorists by the Israeli authorities are eating in a Cyprus hotel after a forced temple diet. And the highest European officials are racking their brains about which country - Greece, Italy or Spain - to provide these people with housing and social benefits. Israel, however, still hopes to scratch them out for investigation. “We need to keep an eye out for them,” even the peace-loving Shimon Peres warned the Europeans. But the fact remains: under international pressure, Israel has violated its basic principle - not to make concessions to those it considers terrorists. And the Israelis have to keep their ears to the ground with many of their citizens, among whom there are not only many opponents of peace negotiations, but also those who are ready to act according to the example of Palestinian extremists. The Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday the arrest of Jewish settlers who were planning a powerful explosion near an Arab girls' high school in East Jerusalem. The vigilance of the road patrol prevented the tragedy.

In unison with the Israeli right, hungry for a fight, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin promised to continue the “fight” from Gaza, despite all the efforts of the international community to stop the bloodshed. What foreign mediators cannot do is develop a clear plan for the final settlement of the Palestinian problem and force the conflicting parties to implement it. The mediators hope that war fatigue among the Jewish and Arab peoples will push them to find their own solutions. However, although the voice of the peace camp has become louder in Israel, the hate camp can easily outshout it. For this, a new terrorist attack in an Israeli city or a new high-profile murder in the Palestinian territories is enough.

Elena SUPONINA