Can anyone explain to me why the Palestinians have responded to the current attempts to set up peace talks by stepping up the rate of suicide bombings to about one every day this past week? One would (perhaps naively?) think that if they want peace talks, they would take a break from terrorist attacks rather than increase them. The following article suggests that I'm not the only one who thinks that increased Palestinian violence means that the peace talks should be postponed.
-- Ronn! ;-) ------------------------------------------------ From CNN.com: Senators urge Cheney not to meet with Arafat WASHINGTON (CNN) --More than half of the U.S. Senate urged Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday not to meet with Yasser Arafat until the Palestinian leader does more to curb the violence in the Middle East. The letter to President Bush, signed by 52 senators, was made public Friday as more violence ripped through the troubled region. Cheney, who recently returned from a tour of the Middle East, has said he would return to the region and meet with Arafat if he believes the Palestinian leader is committed to implementing a cease-fire proposal put forth by CIA Director George Tenet. The Tenet proposal calls for a cease-fire, a cooling-off period and a resumption of negotiations. (Tenet plan) Bush's special envoy to the region, former Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, is currently in the region trying to broker a cease-fire. "Those conditions have been laid out by Vice President Cheney, and now General Zinni is trying to determine whether or not (Arafat) is going to do what he said he would do," Bush said Friday, speaking at a news conference with Mexican President Vicente Fox in Monterrey, Mexico. The White House has said a decision will be made Sunday on whether Arafat has met the conditions necessary for a face-to-face meeting with Cheney before next week's Arab summit. "The meeting could happen if and when Chairman Arafat performs -- does what he's supposed to do," said Bush. In their letter, the bipartisan group of senators said Arafat is not living up to commitments he has made to peacefully settle differences between Palestinians and Israelis. "We strongly believe that Chairman Arafat must take decisive and concerted action to rein in the terrorists and put an end to their brutal campaign -- and must demonstrate, on the ground, that he is willing to take the steps necessary to bring the violence to an end," the senators stated in the letter, written Thursday. "Until Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority demonstrate their commitment to end the violence, we would urge that the vice president reconsider his offer to meet with Mr. Arafat," the letter states. The senators noted that the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- the military wing of Arafat's Fatah movement -- has claimed responsibility for many of the recent attacks. The Bush administration has designated Al Aqsa a foreign terrorist organization, which allows the U.S. government to block Al Aqsa's finances and also prevent banks from doing business with it. (Full story) The lawmakers' letter also affirmed support for Israel, saying the "staunch friend and ally of the United States" was within its rights to "take necessary and appropriate measures to assure the security of its people." Senators who signed the letter included Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Bob Graham of Florida, John Breaux of Louisiana, and Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton of New York. Majority Leader Tom Daschle also signed it. Republican signatories included Richard Shelby of Alabama, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and George Allen and John Warner of Virginia. Meanwhile, there was new bloodshed in the region. A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up Friday at an Israeli army roadblock near the West Bank town of Jenin, the Israel Defense Forces said. An IDF officer was hurt, but his wounds were reported to be light, the IDF said. Also Friday, the IDF said Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man as he was crawling among bushes from Gaza toward the Israeli border near Kissufin, in southern Israel. No other information about the incident was immediately available. A senior White House official said Zinni is still determining whether Cheney should meet with Arafat. "Zinni is the president's man in the region, and it's his job to make the tough calls. If Zinni believes Arafat has taken the appropriate actions, there will be a meeting. It will all be up to when Zinni thinks the timing is right," the official said. Israeli and Palestinian security officials scheduled another round of U.S.-sponsored cease-fire talks for Sunday. Zinni convened a five-hour security meeting between Israelis and Palestinians on Friday. He also held talks earlier in the day with Arafat in Ramallah. Israel Radio reported that at the security meeting, the Palestinians demanded that the Israel Defense Forces return to positions they occupied at the beginning of the Al Aqsa intifada in September 2000. The Israeli officials were said to have demanded that the Palestinians halt the attacks, arrest suspected terrorists and implement the terms of the Tenet plan. Security talks were put on hold Thursday after three Israelis were killed and dozens were injured by a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack and also said it was responsible for Friday's blast, Israel Radio reported. Palestinian sources identified the bomber, who died in the attack, as Muhammad Shahayka, 22, a former Palestinian policeman and an Al Aqsa member from the West Bank village of Talooza, north of the city of Nablus. Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin said Shahayka had been identified by Israelis as a terrorist and that the Palestinian Authority had arrested him last week. When he was being transferred to a prison in Ramallah, he somehow "disappeared" from Palestinian custody, Gissin charged. Appearing before cameras several hours after the attack, Arafat said, "We strongly condemn the operation that happened in West Jerusalem today, especially that was directed against the innocent Israeli civilians. We will take all immediate measures." Arafat's words did little to mollify Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "It is Arafat who is solely responsible for the continuation of murderous terrorist attacks," Sharon said in a statement. "Arafat has done nothing up until now to advance the cease-fire and he is acting -- whether covertly or through inability -- to torpedo the mission of General Zinni." A senior Bush administration official said the White House will not link a Cheney-Arafat meeting with Israel's decision on whether to allow Arafat to attend the Arab League summit next week in Beirut, Lebanon. "We believe Prime Minister Sharon should give serious consideration to letting Arafat attend the summit," the official said. "We have never linked the two." Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/03/22/mideast/index.html -- Ronn! :) God bless America, Land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam� God bless America! My home, sweet home. -- Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
