Word: move
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...political landscape of the Middle East in ways not yet clearly outlined but fresh with the potential for progress. The announcement sent a wave of approval through the West European and Arab communities, which have long urged the U.S. to end its increasingly futile code of silence. The move shocked Israel, which now stands alone in rejecting all contact with the P.L.O. With only a few weeks left in office, Ronald Reagan gave George Bush a huge Christmas present: the opportunity to make real progress in the Middle East without taking the heat for a fiercely controversial decision...
...Arab states long pledged to the P.L.O., the U.S. move vindicated a trend they have encouraged in recent years: greater moderation and realism on the part of Palestinian nationalists. Even George Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh, leaders of two notoriously radical pro-Syrian factions within the P.L.O., hailed the American decision as a triumph for the intifadeh. But the renegade group of Abu Musa issued a veiled threat. "We fully reject the Arafat concessions and will prove our stand practically, in a way that neither Israel nor the United States would expect," said a spokesman in Damascus...
...terrorism does not apply to them. It may be cynical but it is not unthinkable to fear extremist Israelis might seek a similar escalation of violence to prevent a dialogue that they like no better. Another danger for Arafat is the one that has kept him on the move for more than two decades: the possibility of assassination by those who reject his views...
Even American Jews were surprisingly mild in their response to a move many of them deeply mistrust. Most of them trust George Shultz as the best friend Israel ever had, and that seemed to help them see beyond natural fear to the glimmer of hope these events refract. In a rare divergence from the Israeli government line, the major umbrella organization of American Jews said it would not fight the Administration's decision. "Knowing this man," said Morris Abram, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, "I believe he would like to produce peace...
...makes good on his promise, I would consider it a very welcome move. The reductions he's proposing do not redress the conventional balance in Europe, but removing tank divisions, cutting people and taking out some of the "offensive" systems like bridging equipment will change the military calculus. This could be significant, particularly in terms of warning time. Personally, I suspect he'll go through with...