Missed chance for peace

7/30/2002

ISRAEL'S UNMUZZLED press has been reporting on a unilateral ceasefire that the Palestinian nationalist militia the Tanzim was preparing to declare July 23. Hours before the ceasefire was to be announced, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government assassinated a Hamas military leader, Salah Shehada, with a 1-ton bomb dropped in a crowded area, killing 15 civilians, 11 of them children.

Reports about the ceasefire raise disturbing questions about the timing of the Gaza bombing. Sharon's government had been informed of the Tanzim's decision to declare a unilateral ceasefire and of the readiness of Hamas leaders to abide by it. The key question is whether Sharon deliberately sought to thwart the announcement of a ceasefire or whether he and his fellow hawks were too suspicious of all Palestinian initiatives to take the offer seriously.

It is crucial that this missed - or thwarted - opportunity to break the Mideast cycle of violence be recognized. Just as there are sure to be revenge attacks against Israelis in coming days, a time will come when the logic that led the Tanzim and Hamas to agree on a ceasefire will impose itself again.

In the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, reporter Hannah Kim described in detail how a small group reporting to the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, had been working with Tanzim activists for some time. British Mideast hands in the group drew on lessons from Nelson Mandela's African National Congress to persuade Tanzim leaders that a unilateral ceasefire could create the conditions for a negotatied two-state solution with Israel.

An account in the mass-circulation Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot by reporter Alex Fishman told of Tanzim leaders approving the ceasefire communique less than two hours before the bombing; of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin accepting its principles; and of Sharon being briefed by EU go-betweens.

Akiva Eldar, a columnist for Ha'aretz, quoted from the text of the Tanzim open letter: ''The rivers of blood that have so embittered our peoples will be stanched. The suicide bombings will be brought to an end. By us. Now.''

Undoubtedly the Tanzim leaders had their political motives for proposing a ceasefire, as did Hamas leaders. But a wise Israeli leader would seize upon the chance offered by the pragmatic Tanzim leaders' need to supplant Yasser Arafat and compete for support against Hamas. And an alert US president would be reading Sharon the riot act for the timing of the Gaza City bombing.

Before too long, it can be hoped, Tanzim's ceasefire may be renewed. If that happens, President Bush needs to make certain that Sharon or a successor does not seize the opportunity to miss another chance for peace.

© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.