RE: [Futurework] Because We Can

[Karen Watters Cole]

Not at all, Arthur. I am simply saying that we have allowed this to take longer than it needed because we have only focused on one roadblock, one guilty party, for the most part.   It will take a concerted effort by both parties to go forward.  Expecting all the heavy lifting by the Palestinians is short sighted and counter productive.  It is time for Israel to make her choice, or to quote GW Bush, to show her cards.  Giving the benefit of the doubt to Sharon’s true motives and intentions to follow through (a big leap of faith for me, as it is for others regarding Arafat) I wouldn’t be surprised if the hard right in Israel does not try to derail this again.  Maybe Sharon knows that the scandals involving his sons, land and Greece and his own criminal war crimes status made him decide to do something radical and then step aside.     Sometimes it is facing personal defeat or mortality that gives strength to leadership.  Desperation does many things, and Israel has not been far from desperation the past two years.  Maybe there is an assumption within the absolutist settler community that the alliance with Bush prevents them from having to consider compromise.  Dubya has a few lessons his father learned to consider if he wants to enact the neocon agenda.  This is where the American Jewish community has a great deal of power right now.  What will they do?    It’s going to get interesting.  I am hopeful but bracing myself to be disappointed again.     KWC   You two seem to be writing off the process before it starts.  -----Original Message----- From: Karen Watters Cole [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 12:47 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Futurework] Because We Can Yes, I agree with the red herring part, which is why Sharon is motivated to make peaceful gestures and propose radical departures.  As head of the only real democracy in the Middle East, he has no other choice, really.  The framework is coming together from the Palestinian side so the pressure in on the Israelis to demonstrate their authenticity. KWC Lawry wrote:   If Israel reaches a just peace with the Palestinians, groups like Islamic Jihad will essentially evaporate. There will be a few die hards left, as there will be a few die hard Israelis, who will continue their murderous ways, but the scale will be such that the Israeli and Palestinian governments, working together will be able to proceed with the establishment of normal relations, and with security cooperation.   So the real issue is not the militants on either side, but what the shape of a settlement might be that would be viewed as just by both sides.  I am not optimistic.   Palestinian violent resistance is, in terms of obstacles to peace, a red herring.