West Coast
Stunningly good final point.
Are the PLO the legitimate voice of the Palestinians? Perhaps not quite in a UK/US Democratic sense, but then outside Europe, which ruling parties/organisations are (some, yes, but many aren't - including some of our closest allies)?
I'd prefer to think of the PLO as being the Palestinian's legitimate representatives than Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other extremist organisation which still embraces terrorism.
I'd also argue that the PLO has no less of a democratic mandate than the present government of Israel, which has excluded vast swathes of its rightful electorate through ethnic cleansing.
The Palestinian issue is not back ground noise, and needs to be discussed now and sorted out quickly. This is an appropriate time. The plain fact is that this latest US 'crusade' against terrorism (which I regard as being entirely justifiable and 'good' so long as its properly targeted) is being endangered by lukewarm support from many sides - including many nations which should be the USA's natural allies - including EU nations, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (which had to be forced to co-operate on the threat of being regarded as an 'enemy' regime).
One of the main reasons for this lukewarm support lies in broad sympathy for the moderate Arab position - that Israeli excesses and cavalier attitude to UN resolutions is ignored by the USA, which thereby appears to be anti-Arab and Anti-Islamic.
Even in Britain, where Tony Blair has leapt to the USA's side, there is some concern over the danger of this adventure being perceived as 'Arab/Moslem-bashing'. It's not a case of 'watering down' the task at hand, it's a practical matter (the fight against terrorism will be more effective and more widely supported if this issue is addressed) and a moral one. Historically, US foreign policy has been quick to fight evil, and to support the rights of the oppressed. Only in the case of Israel has it been quite so blind to 'right' and 'wrong'. Forcing the Israelis to disengage from Palestinian territory (and areas which should be Palestinian, like East Jerusalem) is as much a case of fighting evil as is unseating the taliban.
I didn't advocate leaving Israel to stew, BTW, I advocated presenting an ultimatum. Reach a settlement or lose US aid and military aid. Which nations have 'returned to the fold' after being isolated or excluded? South Africa? Rhodesia? (And it took many years in those cases because their principal arms suppliers never really abided by international sanctions, and there were alternative sources. Moreover, Israel is only being asked to cede territory, and not to accept the destruction of its entire system of government. No-one is seriously suggesting that Israel should become a secular Arab state, and everyone accepts that Israeli apartheid will continue within its new borders.
PS: Interesting that the main target of the Israeli Army at the weekend was a Christian Palestinian village - most of us think of the Palestinians as being just another bunch of uppity A-rabs!
Interesting too that newspaper reports at the weekend suggest that senior Israeli politicians believe that Sharon and the Army may be deliberately undermining the proposed ceasefire, and don't want peace. The headline was about the Army chief advocating or accepting a plan to assassinate Arafat himself.