Word: arafats
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Everyone, including Shamir, knows that the PLO will pull the Palestinian strings. Madrid just happens to host Europe's largest PLO offices. A special liaison has been established to keep the fax lines humming between the official negotiators and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat. But Israel has opted to pretend to believe the charade of PLO noninvolvement. That way, talks can have their chance. Whether or not Israel's refusal to deal with the PLO is reasonable, Palestianian negotiators who openly attempt to bury that charade jeopardize the chance for real talks...
...NEWS, however, is not all bad. Faisal al-Husseini, the real Palestinian mover in Madrid, earnestly tries to squash the PLO-yelping delegates, hoping to keep the conference on course. Arafat's announcement that he will abide by whatever the Palestinian negotiators agree to is equally encouraging. Arafat has nothing to worry about, of course, because he will be telling the Palestinian team what to say. But at long last, he has decided to play the game that might make peace possible instead of allowing ideology and extremism to snatch despair from the jaws of hope...
Perhaps someone will rise to history's challenge in Madrid, propose a bold new plan, show willingness to compromise, and the Nobel committee can start writing invitations to Shamir, Assad and Arafat. At this point, however, we couldn't even know whether Assad would shake Shamir's hand at the award ceremony...
...disarray is not entirely their own doing. At Israel's insistence, only residents of the territories who are not connected with the Palestine Liberation Organization will formally participate in negotiations. However, their moves are determined by the P.L.O., whose leadership is scattered outside the occupied lands. P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat keeps in constant telephone contact with key Palestinians in the territories...
...course, always the chance of that "crazy event" -- some provocation by extremists on either side that would push the other beyond endurance. Baker warned last week that the approach of the conference is likely to prod terrorists and other provocateurs into action intended to break it up. And Arafat cautioned that while he would do everything possible to prevent disruption, he could not control the most radical factions. Almost on cue, violence erupted. In Tel Aviv a Palestinian driver plowed a van into a group of Israeli soldiers on a busy street corner, killing two and injuring...