On Tue Jul 17, Chuck Grimes said:
> that there is only one peace proposal worth consideration---That is,
> end the occupation, remove the illegal settlements, and return to the
> partition of East Jerusalem.
I agree with all of your sentiments and most of your facts, Chuck. Except on this point, because perhaps the only thing the two sides agree on at this point is that they won't divide Jerusalem again. And furthermore it would be impossible now even if they wanted to thanks to the way Israel has jigsawed in their settlments. This was the kernel that made Camp David II, for all its shortcomings, so stunning. If they had been able to close the deal, it would have meant, underneath everything else, and never to be mentioned in public, that the two states would have had a permanently open border in Jerusalem. Which is to say, an open border period. They would have been one population with two governments. Which is a big deal. And probably the only path to a eventual someday true solution.
And while I'm on the subject, I keep meaning to say to those who say Arafat should have taken half a loaf that wasn't Arafat that turned this deal down. The August talks were over, but the negotations were still in process. Both leaders had given up more than they had ever done in the past -- in itself a complete shock, since both were at an records lows in political support, and Clinton was lame duck as well -- but it was also clear that both would have to give up even more before the deal was possible. It was, for the first time, conceivable that a real deal could be closed -- not probable, of course, but conceivable, which was a first. But besides the other sticking details, Arafat could never have closed a deal on Jerusalem by himself, alone in a room with his adversary. It's not his to give. He's not the leader of the Arab world. He had to shop it by the major heads of state first. And he was in the process of doing just that, and getting positive feedback, when Ariel Sharon marched onto the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif with between 1000 and 2000 armed retainers. *That's* what ended negotiations. Which most people agree could never have taken place without Barak's tacit approval. And the effects of which were completely foreseeable. So it's not Arafat who blinked here. It was the Israelis who took it back, frightened at what they'd done.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com