Mapping Mideast Peace

With the close of the Iraq war--at least its first phase--the Bush Administration has another opportunity to seek a lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and to mend relations with the world community. This will be a test case for Washington's willingness to abide by international law and work constructively with multilateral institutions.

As the latest suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and the intensified repression in Gaza make clear, Israelis and Palestinians desperately need outside intervention. At least 2,100 Palestinians and 700 Israelis have been killed since the latest uprising began. The Palestinian economy and governing institutions have been devastated, and the Israeli economy is in its worst recession in fifty years.

On the face of it, this would not seem to be an auspicious moment. An Administration that has flouted world opinion and international law in prosecuting a pre-emptive war against Iraq is now addressing a problem that demands acute sensitivity to long-established norms of justice and human rights. This same Administration has grown ever closer to the most extremist government in Israeli history, whose Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is outdone in belligerence by Cabinet colleagues who openly call for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

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