(International Herald Tribune) Uri Dromi - For the last several years, Israelis and Americans have been saying that unless Arafat goes, peace in the Middle East is doomed. They say he never rose to the historic occasion offered to the Palestinians in 2000, when he rejected the far-reaching peace offer placed on the table by Prime Minister Barak of Israel and President Clinton. When King Abdullah of Jordan visited Washington recently, he told Jim Lehrer of PBS, "I think the message from not only myself, but other Arab leaders and those in the Palestinian constituency, is that, Arafat, you have to step up to the plate, and if you don't deliver this time, then there's a serious chance that the Palestinians will lose a chance at their future." The writer is director of international outreach at the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem.
2004-05-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive