Editorials

...commonweal MIDEAST PEACE: HOPE ON A TIGHTROPE AMERICAN TOURIST Leon Khnghoffer, tragically murdered at the hands of four PLO terrorists, was not the only fatality listed in the early chronicles of the hijacked Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro Also listed in critical condition, if not destined for the obituary column, were hopes for peace talks in the Middle East — hopes fanned last February when PLO officials and King Hussein of Jordan reached an accord Why is it, then, that a fragile peace process seems to have survived even the international chaos of this most recent episode in what has become a demoralizing spiral of violence'' One answer is that several leading roles in the Middle East drama are currently being played by moderates — that is, if moderation can be understood in relative terms within the context of the region An appraisal of who and what wait in the wings to succeed, or at least to overturn, today's leaders in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and the loosely organized ranks of the PLO suggests that the present scene may be the moderates' last chance to act before curtains Boldly, and with precise timing, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres seized the occasion to present a seven-point peace plan before the United Nations General Assembly on October 21, exactly two weeks after the Achille Lauro was hijacked "Let us shield this flickering hope from threatening winds Let us not consign this moment of hope to the fate of missed opportunities," he said, addressing several specific issues crucial to King Hussein's overtures for negotiations with Israel Hovering over the shoulder of Mr Peres, however, are less conciliatory leaders with more expansionist aims Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and former Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, both of the Likud — the party scheduled to succeed Mr Peres's Labor Alignment less than one year from now Mr Sharon in particular has been an active opponent of the Peres peace proposal, one illustration that moderate influence is waning in Israel Furthermore — simply as an index of the political climate — whatever else support for extremist Meir Kahane's presence in the Knesset may signify, it gnnds down the delicate cause of moderation Yet these internal differences pale when compared with the conflicts gnawing at the rest of the Middle East's cast of characters Egyptian President Hosm Mubarak, for example, is subject to the same lethal pressures that saw to the assassination of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat Despite his recent outbursts of indignation toward the U S for its interception of the Egyptian commercial airplane (caught transporting the Italian cruise ship's hijackers), Mubarak has, true-to-form, expressed cautious support for the peace plan proposed by Mr Peres "Some good points and some unsatisfactory ones,'' Mubarak remarked about the plan By Middle-East standards, that's fairly encouraging Likewise, King Hussein of Jordan continues to walk a tightrope between Israel and its Arab neighbors As persona non grata in the eyes of Syria, Jordan's 15 November 1985 627 neighbor, for his thin alliance with the PLO forces under Syria's avowed enemy, Yasir Arafat, King Hussein seems to be edging closer to negotiations with Israel even while performing his duties as public relations man for the PLO In fact, his recent gestures have caused some Middle-East watchers to scrutinize the possibility of a realignment in the Arab world in which Jordan takes up the precarious path of Egypt in recognizing Israel and forming a treaty with her Jordan acting independently of the PLO7 Possible, but it seems doubtful It could be argued, of course, that self-interest motivates the king to seek an agreement with Israel his country is halfpopulated with refugees, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank is populated by Jordanian citizens depnved of Israeli civil rights On the other hand, the nsks of too close an association with Israel in the view of Syria have prompted the king to seek a $1 9 billion purchase of arms from the U S In an effort to give impetus to possible negotiations, the U S Senate wisely postponed the sale, tentatively until March 1986, contingent upon direct negotiations with Israel and, King Hussein insists, with "legitimate Palestinian representatives " Oddly enough, the Soviet Union may lend support to the Middle-East peace effort if the rumors that Mr Gorbachev is planning to allow widespread Jewish emigration to Israel do prove true France's generous offer to transport the Soviet emigres may encourage the action If the Soviets were to resume diplomatic relations with Israel, King Hussein's hope that at least the two superpowers (if not the permanent members of the U N Security Council) would initiate the peace talks might gain the full support of both Israel and the U S But the prior question is Can King Hussein bring to the negotiating table Palestinian representatives who "represent peace, not terror," as Mr Peres stipulated in his U N address9 The question is familiar and might be interpreted as a sign that nothing has been accomplished since February But that is precisely the point This is indeed the same question that was asked last winter and which had King Hussein trying to convince Israel and its supporters that Yasir Arafat qualified as such a representative Today, after Mr Arafat's duplicity was exposed for his role in the cruise ship hijacking, whatever legitimacy he may have had is now overshadowed by his reputation as a terrorist Mr Arafat does not, however, represent the extremity of violence among leaders of the diffuse PLO But he may have incurred enough international loss of credibility either to cause him to seek more moderate means than before, or to cause King Hussein to break the partnership The New York Times reported that a "key advisor'' to King Hussein, when asked what would happen were Mr Arafat to refuse to reach an agreement with the king, answered "In this case, he is announcing he cannot go along with the peace process and then the Palestinians themselves would have to choose a new leader Nobody is indispensable " But an advisor does not a king make, from King Hussein's late October meeting with Mr Arafat, no evidence has emerged to support the notion of any breach So why even hope for peace talks, let alone for some authentic peace in the region7 Because we cannot afford not to Repudiating terrorism, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and finding a solution — however temporary or short of being fully satisfactory — to the problem of Palestinian selfdetermination and the Israeli occupation and absorption of the West Bank are worth the effort that is ignited by the sparks of hope To accept as commonplace the violence of continued terrorism, to accept the suffe'nng of millions of refugees, to refuse to acknowledge Palestinian rights or the creation of the unique State of Israel, to watch that ally slide self-destructively toward permanent military control over a resisting minority population — such resignation is unworthy and, worse, ultimately unrealistic When Leon Khnghoffer's body arrived in America, New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato said, "Leon lives on " So must our hopes for peace in the Middle East LIVING WITH DEMAGOGUES The booing of the Canadian national anthem by partisan baseball fans at Yankee Stadium last summer was boorish and an American embarrassment It was symptomatic of a false nationalism that ndes rather freely on these slopes and shores It was an ugly but nevertheless contiguous step down from last Commonweal 628 year's Olympic-size chants of "USA, USA," which boomed from the Los Angeles Coliseum and echoed through our TV homes In recent months another false cacophony has been heard to resound, this'time in fourteen cities, from Los Angeles to New York Like nationalism, it too is virtuous in many of its aspects, many of its effects This preachment calls its adherents to personal responsibility, love of the group, self-respect, economic progress, and power (Power is its chosen acronym People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth ) But the power of Louis Farrakhan, and the inspiration of his call for black regeneration, is, like false nationalism, predicated on something else again — fear and hatred Its product is the vitriolic soul Lord knows, although the government seems impervious, that things have gotten desperately worse for black Americans of late Since 1980, black families here have lost economic ground, both in absolute and in comparative terms One-third of all black Americans now live below the poverty line So do one-half of all black children Black joblessness is more than twice that of whites It didn't take a Louis Farrakhan to tell black people these things But maybe it does the rest of us When he filled the Forum m Los Angeles, and Madison Square Garden in New York, it was a cross section of black America that came to hear the Reverend Farrakhan Also there in Los Angeles was Thomas Metzger, head of the White People's Political Association and former head of the California Ku Klux Klan He came not only to applaud, but to lend financial support Bigotry loves company That is the long underside of Louis Farrakhan's more conspicuous message to 15 November 1985 629...