Arafat, Sharon must end cycle of revenge

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Perhaps this is what Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meant
when he said his “hand is outstretched to the Palestinians in
peace.”

But if Sharon’s idea of a peace offering is cutting off
communications, food supplies and surrounding Palestinian Authority
President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah with the Israeli army, any
chance at peace seems improbable.

Israel’s military offensive into the West Bank is the
latest assault in the circular war being fought in the Middle East
““ one side responds to the other’s attacks with ever
more escalated resistance. These latest events demonstrate that
neither side’s leader is serious about achieving peace.

Sharon is operating under immense pressure to protect Israelis
from terrorist attacks. And while defending his country from
terrorism is justified, Sharon’s retaliation hasn’t
been measured ““ and its failure is evident by the continued
terrorist attacks against his country. Sharon incorrectly believes
that isolating Arafat in his compound will hinder his ability to
coordinate terrorist attacks against Israel. But all this is doing
is giving Arafat a reason to defend his people ““ and since
Palestine doesn’t have the luxury of the U.S.-funded military
Israel does, they resort to what has proven an effective
attention-getter: suicide attacks. And so the cycle continues.

The only rational solution to stop this war is for international
leaders to unify and coerce Sharon to take the first step toward a
unilateral cease fire. Because Palestinian groups’ allegiance
to Arafat is questionable, especially in the face of ongoing
attacks, the only chance at a productive cease fire is if Israel
initiates it.

A dedicated unilateral cease fire would show that Sharon is
genuine about his willingness to work toward peace and put the
pressure on Arafat to not just publicly denounce the terrorist
attacks, but to call them off all together in an effort to broker a
peace treaty. A cease fire would represent a last chance for both
Arafat and Sharon. If Arafat can’t stop the suicide attacks
made by his Palestinian followers against Israelis and Jews even
after Sharon pulls his army back, then Arafat must not be
considered a legitimate leader by any country.

The Arab League has urged Sharon to accept a peace treaty
brokered by the league’s 22 delegations. Under the peace
treaty, if Israel agrees to withdraw from the territories it
captured in 1967 (the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, West Bank and
Gaza Strip), then the Arab states will offer fully normalized
relations with the Jewish state. While Sharon has viewed any Arab
treaty with skepticism, he must realize that there are no
alternatives. Israel cannot extinguish a terrorist threat and
Palestinians cannot expect the destruction of Israel. Furthermore,
signing a peace treaty would be the most logical move to protect
Israelis from terrorist attacks, which is what Sharon should be
striving for.

Israel holds an advantage on the strength of their military, but
if Sharon isn’t willing to compromise, then people on both
sides will continue to die.

President Bush has consistently toed the line in his support for
Sharon, but his influence in the Middle East has up to now been
ineffectual. The president has the capability to wield significant
influence over both sides of the conflict: he can threaten to stop
recognizing Arafat as a legitimate leader and he can stop funding
Israel’s military. Bush cannot continue acting as if the U.S.
role in this conflict is unimportant.

Realistically, the conflict in the Middle East will not end
until there is a Palestinian state.

But this can’t happen until each side looks beyond revenge
toward a solution. And until today’s leadership does,
tomorrow’s suicide bomber won’t.