Word: beirutization
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...Beirut's crisis could lead to the solution of a larger Middle East problem
...power equations and political lineups in the Middle East in such a way as to leave all parties in the area looking to Washington for help in averting a new explosion. Both moderate and radical Arabs hope that the U.S. can restrain Israel from a final assault on West Beirut; Israel is waiting impatiently for the U.S. to negotiate a pull-out of Palestine Liberation Organization guerrilla fighters from the besieged city...
American policymakers, for their part, see a new chance to use the leverage that the Beirut crisis has given them to prod both sides toward the solution of a larger Middle East problem: the status of the Palestinians, who yearn for a homeland in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under heavy pressure from Arabs and some Europeans, the U.S. is considering the possibility of negotiating directly with the P.L.O., in return for an open declaration by the P.L.O. that it recognizes Israel's right to exist as a state. The hope: that Prime Minister Menachem Begin...
...ready to recognize Israel, his position has generally fallen far short of the unequivocal public declaration the U.S. would demand. Hopes for a deal rose somewhat on Sunday when Arafat signed a document accepting "all U.N. resolutions relevant to the Palestinian question." California Republican Paul N. McCloskey Jr., visiting Beirut with five other Congressmen, said that the P.L.O. leader in effect had recognized Israel's right to exist. By doing so, McCloskey said, Arafat had cleared the way for direct negotiations with the U.S. McCloskey told reporters that he would urge Secretary of State George Shultz to begin talks...
...Israelis also find themselves in a difficult dilemma. Their attempt to deal a military blow to the P.L.O. may not bring a political solution to the aspirations of 4 million Palestinians any closer. If Israel annihilates the battle-hardened veterans of the P.L.O. by storming Beirut, it will incur the wrath of Washington but fail to extinguish the spirit of Palestinian nationalism. Yet if the Israelis withdraw from Beirut and grant the P.L.O. a face-saving retreat, they will forfeit the psychological benefits of the crushing victory that their government wanted as the main justification for the invasion...