Word: rabin
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...redrawn, the seven chief figures moved like chessmen on their tiny stage, chairs put in the blueprint, then withdrawn, until finally it was agreed they all would stand to talk, sit to sign, stand again. Clinton was to act as stage manager. He would reach for the hand of Rabin at the crucial moment, turn next to shake the hand of Arafat, then step back half a pace and enfold the two in a wide and gentle extension of his arms with the expectation that the weight of history would bring their two hands together. It did. First Arafat reached...
From the moment he appeared silhouetted against the White House, in sharp- pressed khakis and trademark kaffiyeh, Arafat couldn't stop smiling. This was the arrival on the world stage he had always dreamed of. Rabin was plainly of a different mind, uncomfortable and stiff. His body language throughout the ceremony -- the tics, the cocking of his head, the eyes cast toward the sky, the ground, anywhere but Arafat -- gave away just how uneasy...
Oded Ben-Ami, a spokesman for Rabin, watched it in wonder. "It was a handshake with someone who just a moment ago was the devil in person," he said, "and from now on is your partner in negotiation." The Lebanese daily L'Orient-Le Jour made a cooler but no less momentous assessment: "A prodigious moment this handshake, soberly, none too warmly exchanged between Rabin and Arafat, as if they were crushed by the terrible responsibility that their historic gesture condemned them to share." This is the stuff of modern diplomatic power. It is impulsive and ephemeral and can vanish...
Nobody was sure the touch of hands would happen. No formal request had been sent through diplomatic channels. Arafat wanted desperately to come; Rabin didn't. Arafat wanted to show up on the lawn with his holster holding his faithful Smith & Wesson and, with a great flourish, to unstrap the gun and hand it to Clinton. That was vetoed: too much theater even on that day. One hour before the ceremony, the Israelis and the Palestinians both threatened to boycott over trifles: then Rabin swallowed his objections to Arafat's uniform and agreed the P.L.O. could be named...
...George Bush, thought time had done its work as he watched the tableau of peace. He had convened meetings, pushing the old adversaries together at Madrid 23 months ago. Clinton knew how much that legwork had counted. He reached through three rows of people to make sure Arafat and Rabin shook hands with Baker...