At 09:02 PM 6/21/02 -0400, you wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Jochem van Dieten" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Friday, June 21, 2002 8:22 PM >Subject: Re: optimism > > >> Todd wrote: >> > Question 1: Is Arafat serious, or is he just "accepting" a plan that he >> > knows Sharon won't so Sharon ends up looking like a hardass and the >blame >> > falls on Israel? >> >> Don't know. > >Me neither. My gut tells me that he's just going through the motions ... my >mind is optomistic, though, and hopes to prove my gut wrong.
Recall the Arafat/Barak/Clinton days, when Arafat reputedly told Clinton that accepting the plan would mean his death. And that was before the Intifada IIRC. > >> > Question 2: If he is, does he have the support of the people enough to >at >> > least reduce the bombings and begin to approach some type of stability? >> >> Not before there are signs of a Israeli retreat. One of the reasons why >> he is asking for a permanent agreement instead of the next interim >> agreement. > >Yeah, but Sharon says "no retreat" until the attacks stop. Who is to >sincerely extend the first olive branch? Maybe this is it .. who knows? We >can only hope. > A related two-fold question: can Arafat control the Palestinian violence (if he isn't behind it) long enough to look sincere, and will Sharon recognize it and respond in kind? >> > Question 3: What do the other Arab states think of this? >> >> Guess who will have to take care permanently of all the people that >> can't return. They won't like it. > >That's what I'm worried about more than anything. > >Todd > Guess who *could* have taken care of all the Palestinian refugees, but instead let them rot in camps all these years, fomenting the frustration and violence? -Ben >> >> Jochem > > ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-community@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
