(Baltimore Sun) Peter Hermann - For a time, coexistence existed in Kalkilya in the West Bank. Merchants whose businesses have survived the past four years of violence talk glumly about lost income and lost jobs. Above all else, people here want their long-lost Israeli customers to return. More than most Palestinians, people in Kalkilya remember the benefits of peace. "We had it, and we lost it," said Bassam Monsour, who used to have 12 employees in an auto repair shop that served Israeli customers. "Before he [Abbas] does anything, he has to consolidate power," said Hillel Frisch, a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. "Still, he has a fighting chance. He will get all the money he can get from the U.S. and the Europeans, and that will empower him over time. He's buying time as he gets strong, and once he's reactivated the security forces, he will be ready to bargain." "He has to dismantle terror organizations over time because the understanding is, you cannot just work for a cease-fire with them. They have to be outlawed," said Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Daniel Ayalon. "You cannot have militias...and this will be his challenge."
2005-01-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive