ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603150005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Terrorist bombs won't halt the long-term movement toward peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, a former Middle East diplomat says.
"I think the peace process is inevitable. I think they have no alternative but to push forward," Nathaniel Howell said Wednesday as Arab, Israeli and U.S. leaders were meeting in Egypt to consider ways to curb the violence.
"As tragic as the recent bombings have been, there was not peace when the Israelis controlled Gaza and the West Bank," he told Cave Spring High School students.
"Going back to what they had before won't guarantee security for Israel. This [terrorism] was to be anticipated, although not wanted, because there is a whole class of people who have opposed any accommodation in the conflict," he said.
Howell is director of Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies at the University of Virginia and was U.S. ambassador to Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion in 1989.
The Israelis and Palestinians should not allow extremists on either side to destroy the peace process, he said.
He also said the United States should stay involved and continue trying to encourage the peace movement. At some point, he said, it might be necessary for this country to participate in a Middle East peacekeeping force.
It is important that the United States and other countries not overreact to the terrorism, he said.
"We need to keep things in context. Things are never quite as good as they seem and never quite as bad as they appear in the Middle East," he told the students.
Both the Israelis and Palestinians are beginning to realize "they can't wipe each other out," he said. "I hope both recognize there is no military solution to the conflict."
Howell, who spent most of his 27-year career as a foreign service officer in the Middle East, will speak to students at all four Roanoke County high schools this week as part of the county's international studies program.
He said the peace process will probably lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, and he believes that would enhance Israel's security rather than threaten it.
Under the current arrangement, the Palestinians have limited self-rule in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel and the United States want Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to take tougher measures against militants operating from areas under Palestinian control.
The bombings show the intense desire by some Palestinian extremists to maintain the status quo, because they can't accept the possibility of an accommodation with Israel, he said. Howell said he thinks the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unlikely to lead to a large-scale war, but there could be minor flare-ups.
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