Massacre in Egypt

Poverty and the gap between rich and poor breed terrorism. Remedying the conditions involves economic development. This year is the fourth year for an economic conference of Middle East and North African nations, including Israel and Islamic countries, specifically for that purpose.

But enthusiasm about the conference cooled considerably in the past year after rightist Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in Israel. The fact that efforts to attain peace in the Middle East have faltered is one of the contributing factors in the loss of enthusiasm for the regional economic conference.

The latest terrorist incident in Egypt is a fresh reminder that the root of terrorism in the Middle East is the deep hatred Israel and the Islamic states have for each other. The United Nations falls far short of doing enough to mediate the dispute between Moslems and Jews.

It may be hard to wholly end terrorism. But the international community can make a start by changing the climate that breeds terrorism. We must pledge, for the sake of those who fell to terrorism in Egypt, that we will start that work now.

-- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo