SOME GROUND RULES FOR THINKING ABOUT THE CURRENT MIDDLE EAST CRISIS

Let's think clearly for a moment. I admit it is quite difficult to do admit the nightly newscasts, torrents of propaganda, and words of "wisdom" by the experts. There are however, some simple truths to the current crisis in the Middle East that can not be ignored.

1) The overwhelming majority of Israelis want peace, and are willing to make a reasonable compromise with the Palestinians - very few Israelis will shed a tear for the evacuation of Netzarim or Elon Moreh.

2) No such consensus exists among the Palestinians. For the Islamic fundamentalists, there can be no sovreign Jewish state - Israel must be replaced by a regime that falls under Dar-al-Islam. The popular call for a Palestininan "right of return" to Haifa, Jaffa, and rest of pre-1967 Israel would mean the destruction of the Jewish state. Finally, the so-called "moderate" leadership, as exemplified by Arafat, sees negotiations only an another option, to be used in conjunction with terror, to achieving goals quite similar to the more radical factions. Are there Palestinian pragmatists, who truly wish to create a state that will live side by side with Israel, and focus on the grievous plight of their people? Sure, there has to be - but such people will not be able to come forward until the maximalist Palestinian leadership is rejected by the international community.

3) This is not about Ariel Sharon and a personal mano-a-mano with Arafat. It is not a story of the Israeli Right, sabotoging an otherwise healthy process to preserve West Bank settlments. Chronology is critically important here. The Peace Process ground to a halt in the Spring of 1996 with Hamas' wave of suicide bombings. These attacks, and Arafat's refusal to lift a finger to stop them led to a meteoric fall in Shimon Peres' popularity and led to Netanyahu's razor-thin election. Faced with relative calm three years later, Israelis dumped Netanyahu for Ehud Barak, on the hopes that a final settlement could be reached with the Palestinians. The response to the Israeli proposal at Camp David was an all-out campaign of violence orchestrated by Arafat. It was only in the context of such violence that once unelectable Sharon returned from political exile.

4) There is no moral equivalence between Palestinian suicide bombings, which target innocent civilians, women, and children and Israel's counter-terror responses. Palestinian militants have no qualms about using their own civilians, or the holy sites of others as shields. Under such circumstances, even the most moral, most careful armed response will have unfortunate incidental civillian casulties.

The Palestininans are like a crack addict on a shooting spree. Yes, the injustice of the world has a lot to do with their dire condition. Yes, the humane long-term solution is treatment and rehabilitation that allows them to live productive, dignified lives. The first step is still to take the gun away, before your get your head blown off.