'Chance for life' in Mideast peace talks

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | 11/12/04 | By Sharon Behn

[Former Military Chick]

Policy-makers see an opportunity for renewed progress toward peace in the Middle East after Yasser Arafat's death, but analysts warned yesterday that it will be hard for any new leader to accept a less generous deal than what Mr. Arafat rejected.

The biggest unknown is what to expect from the Islamist movement Hamas, which is heavily entrenched in the Palestinian territories and long has pursued its agenda independent of Mr. Arafat.

One international security official in the region said the potential existed for civil war among the Palestinians, but added that much depended "on the conviction" of the new Palestinian leadership.

Mr. Arafat, the terrorist-turned-president who became the symbol of the Palestinian cause, died yesterday at 75 after days of lying comatose in a Paris hospital.

"We wonder if his death will give a chance for life — a renewal of a shattered partnership after four years of terror and violence," said David Makovsky, director of the Middle East Peace Process project at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

But, he cautioned, "I think we should avoid 'all-or-nothing' traps, namely to believe we are going to solve this 100-year conflict tomorrow morning."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that Mr. Arafat's death would not affect his country's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

But, he said, "The latest events might be a historic turning point."

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom went further, saying, "We are at the dawn of a new era in the Middle East — an era which carries the possibility and the hope — of real change for the better. We hope that the end of the Arafat era will also be the end of the era of terror."

[Former Military Chick]

All things are possible when one has hope.