ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010027
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: cal thomas
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
THE HEADLINES, editorials and television news last week trumpeted the ``decision'' by the Palestine Liberation Organization to ``revoke'' those clauses in its 32-year-old charter that call for an armed struggle to destroy Israel. As is the case with so much in the Middle East, first impressions can be misleading.
The Palestine National Council voted, 21/2 years after the PLO reached agreement with Israel over autonomy for the Palestinians, to refer the matter to one of its subcommittees. The PNC directive did not specify a deadline, though a spokesman said a revised document would be ready within six months.
But which clauses are to be revised? The PNC referred to five such clauses, but various counts put the number that directly or indirectly refer to Israel's destruction at between 15 and 28. And after the recommendation by the subcommittee, the matter will have to come back for debate and another vote by the PLO Central Council. Presumably, the document will then be submitted again to the PNC for discussion, debate and ratification.
No time table has been set for any of this, and the new language has yet to be seen. Declarations of peace being at hand and lights at the end of the tunnel are - at best - premature.
As a friend writes from Israel about the dangers inherent in trusting the PLO and moving ahead with more land transfers to its authority: ``Would you transfer an asset to a person who gave you a series of bad checks, and now is using a post-dated check, and expects to get the title over the asset (in this case Hebron) before the post-dated check clears your bank?''
Last week I attended the annual Independence Day reception at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. As demonstrators across the street screamed their opposition to Israel's ``Operation Grapes of Wrath'' assault on the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, I spoke with one of the embassy staff, a counselor with many years of experience in Mideast affairs. He told me, optimistically, that this time he thinks peace will come because of the PLO decision to repeal parts of the charter. He said, ``First the head, then the heart.''
I told him it should be the other way around. First the heart, then the head. I'll take another look at things when the PLO and the leadership of Arab nations - the latter having been strangely silent about the PLO decision - say Allah has changed his mind and no longer views Jews as infidels who must be killed and their land reclaimed solely for Arabs and Muslims. But more than the charter must be changed (if, indeed, it is). Hearts must be changed and then minds can be transformed.
A senior Israeli official takes a different line. In a diplomatic version of pop psychology, the official, who spoke on background, said that Syrian President Hafez al-Assad ``wants peace, but doesn't know how to do it,'' because ``his world is no bigger than his tent'' and ``he doesn't travel much.'' About Islamic extremism, the official said that as there are different brands of Christians and Jews, so are there various kinds of Muslims. He believes that when diplomats make peace, the hearts and minds of all but the most fanatical extremists will prefer improved economic conditions to fulfilling ``the will'' of Allah by continuing their quest for all Israeli land.
Maybe he is right, but if he is wrong it is disaster for Israel, which cannot afford to be wrong even once. On May 29, Israeli voters will decide whether to take the risks Prime Minister Shimon Peres and his Labor Party are proposing, or the more cautious, even confrontational approach of Likud Party challenger Benjamin Netanyahu.
A lot depends on whether Peres has correctly read the hearts and minds of his Arab and Palestinian adversaries. Have they changed, or is this only a negotiating ploy to exploit the weakness of some Israeli leaders who want to believe peace is at hand?
- Los Angeles Times Syndicate
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB