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Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050320/news_mz1e20makovs.html
New Hope for the Holy Land
(San Diego Union Tribune) David Makovsky - Mahmoud Abbas may be elected, but he does not yet have the authority to veer from the Arafat legacy on final status. Thus, any U.S. final status blueprint should not be put forward at this time. However, the guiding criteria should be whether such an American-led effort has a chance of success and not if it possibly engenders ephemeral sympathy in the Arab world. The criteria for success depend on the outcome of the Gaza withdrawal and the willingness of key Arab states to visibly come out in support of explicit compromise on contentious issues such as refugees and Jerusalem. If they do not provide Abbas with political cover, there is little chance that he can veer from the Arafat legacy. From a conference on Arab-Israeli Futures: Next Steps for the United States sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace.