Hope and hudna
07/01/2003

THOUGH CRUMBLED and singed by a month of bombings, assassinations and sundry violence, the "road map" for peace in the Middle East is still intact. Over the weekend, Israel returned two towns in the Gaza strip to Palestinian control and the three major Palestinian terrorist organizations grudgingly agreed to a three-month cease-fire.

The ((ITAL))hudna((ITAL)) (the Arabic word for cease-fire) is fragile, vulnerable to a single teenager with dynamite strapped to his or her belly, or the whim of a disgruntled politician. Huge issues remain. But in a part of the world where hope has been in short supply, it is remarkable that the peace process signed by both sides June 4 has survived violence meant to destroy it.

Much credit for this must go to President George W. Bush. The president was late coming to the table in the Middle East, but he has been fully engaged since the end of the war with Iraq. The war removed a major sponsor of Mideast terrorism, and the presence of 218,000 U.S. troops in the neighborhood changed the equation. The president's personal diplomacy in visits to Egypt and Jordan added urgency to the process, which Mr. Bush has continued to underscore by sending high-level emissaries to the region.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was the latest representative from the White House. In a visit to Jerusalem on Sunday, Ms. Rice said the administration was ready to deliver "nearly one billion dollars" to help rebuild the Palestinian territories. The money would be used for humanitarian institutions such as hospitals and clinics, and would be meant to prop up the shaky authority of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister. It would be a wise investment.

Mr. Abbas is critical to this process. For the beleaguered Palestinian people, he represents a credible alternative to the endless violence of extremist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade. Having failed to derail the peace process in the past month, and having had their leaders targeted by Israeli retaliation teams, the extremist groups skulked to the table Sunday. They were still making unreasonable demands - the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the establishment of "historic" (read: including Jerusalem) borders for the Palestinian state - but at least they agreed to eschew violence for three months, conditional upon an end to Israel's assassination policy. That might be enough time for peace to take root.

Ms. Rice was also concerned with some of Israel's actions, including the massive wall now under construction along its borders. The wall meanders into areas that the road map designates for Palestinians. If Israel merely intends to wall itself off from the Palestinians, this will be a very strange peace, indeed, and probably doomed to fail.

Real peace requires good faith among all parties and a level of trust never before seen in this tired and bleeding part of the world. But Israelis and Palestinians alike may finally be so tired of the violence and suffering that they are willing to try trusting each other instead. If the hard-liners on both sides of the Jordan can be kept at bay, the road map may yet lead to peace.