Military

DATE=10/24/00

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=BROKEN PEACE PROCESS (1)

NUMBER=5-47222

BYLINE=ED WARNER

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak negotiates with hard-lining Ariel Sharon to form a coalition government, the prospects for renewing the peace process are not bright. Positions have hardened with the killing of some 120-people, mostly Palestinians, and the fighting continues. In the first of two reports, Correspondent Ed Warner looks at some views of the conflict and possible ways to revive the peace talks.

TEXT: The danger of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation is that it has become internationalized. Images of violence have flashed around the world, stirring violent reactions.

An Associate at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, Anthony Sullivan, says the hatreds are stronger than ever.

/// SULLIVAN ACT ///

Let us say I were a member of Hezbollah or Hamas, and I wanted to write a scenario for a series of events to politicize the Islamic world as it has never perhaps been politicized before, and pull them together into some kind of united front against Israel and America and perhaps the west, I could not have created a better scenario than the one revealed by the events of the last three weeks or so.

/// END ACT ///

The passions are not all on one side. Images of a young Palestinian boy shot to death by Israelis are met by images of two Israeli soldiers fatally beaten by Palestinians.

David Schenker, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, says the violence has just about destroyed the Israeli peace party.

/// SCHENKER ACT ///

North, south, east, and west, Israel is really feeling under siege. You have Saddam (Hussein) trying to get into the act. You have the United Nations issue a very critical resolution, and the Arab League issue a very critical resolution. Israel is hunkering down now, and really many people in Israel expect that there will be a war or that there may be a prolonged war of attrition in the West Bank and Gaza against the Palestinians, like a permanent state of intifada.

/// END ACT ///

The status of Jerusalem, above all, has fueled the conflict, says Yvonne Haddad, Professor of History at Georgetown University. Nothing could be calculated to more inflame Muslims:

/// HADDAD ACT ///

The thing that is really astounding to me is that the United States government did not realize that Jerusalem is an Islamic issue, and it is not an Arab issue, and it is not a Palestinian issue. The issue of Haram al-Sharif, the holy shrine in Jerusalem, is not negotiable for Muslims, and a lot of them are saying if Arafat cannot get it, it is not his job to sign it away. Let him leave it for the next generation.

/// END ACT ///

Professor Haddad says a new set of negotiators is needed.

Or maybe a different approach to negotiations, says Steve Yetiv, Professor of Political Science at Old Dominion University in Virginia:

/// YETIV ACT ///

We have tried to accomplish too much too fast. For decades, there has been a debate about trying to seek a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli question all at once, or shall we do it step by step by step? (President Jimmy) Carter preferred step by step, and I think it worked. The current administration prefers comprehensive, and while there is logic behind that approach, I do not think it is working.

/// END ACT ///

Deal with the easier issues first, advises Professor Steve Yetiv. When agreement is reached on them and some trust has been built, the parties can tackle the emotive issue of Jerusalem. (SIGNED)

NEB/EW/RAE