The chances for peace

The cease-fire in Lebanon comes after the deaths of at least 160 civilians, 13 Hizbollah fighters, one Syrian soldier and zero Israelis. Israel's bombs laid waste to a portion of a country that had not been involved in the struggle for peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

But for Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, now virtually assured of a landslide victory in the polls on May 29, these are merely figures -- a necessary means to an end.

He has said, "We have to encourage the winds of peace to retract the shadows of danger." These winds appear to be colored by Israeli demands for peace along Israeli lines, with little or no regard for the fact that peace on paper bears no resemblance to that realized through compromise and conciliation, concrete actions instead of broken promises.

As Peres sits opposite Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the final-status negotiations, he will have a choice to make. Should he pursue his current course of launching attacks and blame as readily as bombs, then any agreement signed during these negotiations will not be worth the paper it is written on.

Arafat has traveled to Washington with the hope of convincing the United States, Israel and the world that he is a legitimate partner in the peace process.

He has succeeded in revising the Palestinian charter, removing the article that had called for the destruction of Israel.

But erasing the words does not necessarily mean an end to the roots of hostility. These will continue to grow in fertile ground if Peres continues to refuse to make concessions.

-- al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo