Military

DATE=7/02/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=PALESTINIAN ISRAELI TRUCE

NUMBER=6-12994

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: At midweek, the truce between Palestinian terrorists and the Israeli Army appears to be holding. The United States press is watching and holding its breath, wary because of so many failed cease-fires in the past. However most papers remain cautiously optimistic in their editorials. Here is V-O-A's ____________ with a sampling in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: Israeli military forces left the West Bank city of Bethlehem Wednesday [7-2] and turned over security to Palestinian police. The handover is seen as another boost for the internationally-backed peace plan. Missouri's Saint Louis Post-Dispatch views it this way.

VOICE: Though crumbled and singed by a month of bombings, assassinations and sundry violence, the "road map" for peace is still intact. The Huda (the Arabic word for cease-fire) is fragile, vulnerable to a single teenager with dynamite strapped to his or her belly. Huge issues remain. But in a part of the world where hope has been in short supply, it is remarkable that the peace process signed by both sides June fourth has survived violence meant to destroy it.

TEXT: Views of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch.

Florida's Miami Herald is also pleased, yet wary.

VOICE: The fragile cease-fire now taking shape could be a watershed in the Middle East quagmire. But no one should get overly optimistic about prospects even for a resumption of negotiations or, ultimately, a bid for long-term security and peace. Much work remains to be done.

TEXT: Boston's Christian Science Monitor agrees, warning that "The road to peace will require unflagging maintenance," adding:

VOICE: Heat finally turned to light for the Palestinians and Israelis this week. Well, some light. Enough to lead them out of a mutually imposed darkness and start taking baby steps to rebuild trust. ... Israel's withdrawal of forces from the Gaza Strip, and perhaps several West Bank towns show a good-faith effort to reward Palestinians for moving toward peace. But Israel must also show restraint in case of another attack -- and indicate a willingness to return most of the West Bank eventually.

TEXT: Boston's Christian Science Monitor.

In Iowa, although The Des Moines Register calls the current situation "A glimmer of Mideast hope," it casts a worried eye toward the immediate future.

VOICE: Everyone is waiting for the next attack by terrorists determined to destroy the country of Israel and every Jew who lives there. No matter what the leadership of Hamas or Islamic Jihad or Al Fatah promises, there are two worries: One is that the cease-fire is really cover for them to regroup. The other is that even if they are sincere, not every radical will fall into line.

In the short-term, when another bus or hotel is blown up inside Israel, [President] Bush will need to visibly step in again to help bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the table.

TEXT: Excerpts from a Des Moines Register editorial.

Georgia's Savannah Morning News is pleased as well, suggesting:

VOICE: In the topsy-turvy world of Middle Eastern conflicts, each step forward seems to be followed by two or three steps to the rear. But the steps taken this week all seem to point in the same direction -- toward peace. The news isn't all good. Some of the more radical branches, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, refuses to join the cease-fire declaration and vows to continue the bloodshed.

TEXT: In San Francisco, The Chronicle is also hopeful but points out that not even the full terms of what is going on have been agreed to by both sides.

VOICE: In these nervous first days of a cease-fire declared by Palestinian militant groups, without formal Israeli agreement to conditions, no one yet claims success for the "road map" laid out by the [U-S], the [U-N], the European Union and Russia. But even this tentative step toward settlement of the dispute, and creation of a Palestinian state by two-thousand-five, spawns hope that we have reached a true turning point after generations of futility.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this editorial sampling from the American press on the current truce between Israel and the Palestinians.

NEB/ANG/RH