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 | CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
April 4, 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
Can Arabs and Israelis share Jerusalem? What can President Clinton do? What effect has Hamas had on the peace process? Can Israeli policy be compared to Hitler's? What role does AIPAC play in U.S. support for Israel? Can the United Nations contribute to acheiving peace and security?
NewsHour Links
March 24, 1997:
Margaret Warner talks withShlomo Gur of the Israeli Embassy and Khalil Foutah of the PLO.
March 4, 1997:
Charles Krause talks with Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Arafat advisor.
February 13, 1997:
Charles Krause discusses Clinton and Netanyahu's meeting with Dore Gold, foreign policy aide to Netanyahu.
January 15, 1997:
Jim Lehrer leads a discussion of the Hebron deal.
December 18, 1996:
Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski debate a critical letter sent by eight former U.S. foreign policy chiefs to Israel. -
October 15, 1996:
Warren Christopher talks about the peace process.
October 2, 1996:
A NewsHour interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk.
October 1, 1996:
A NewHour look at the emergency White House Peace Summit between Netanyahu and Arafat.
May 31, 1996:
Israeli Election Forum : The NewsHour's Charles Krause answered questions on Netanyahu's victory.
May 23, 1996:
Seeing the Future : a look at the Israeli elections.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of the Middle-East.
OUTSIDE LINKS
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Palestine's Home Page
The Jerusalem PostDoug McSpadden of Bozeman, MT asks: Dupes of Hamas?
With the current breakdown of the peace process, isn't the Netanyahu government responding (reacting) exactly as Hamas had hoped? By not condemning the Prime Minister for the East Jerusalem construction, is the United States falling into the same trap?
Muhammad Hallaj responds:
Verbal pronouncements to the contrary, Netanyahu and his party are not committed to the peace process. Their priority, shown by Likud ideology and Netanyahu's election campaign as well as the actual conduct of his government, is the acquisition of land. They reject "land for peace," the agreed formula for the peace process. Netanyahu is not concerned about Hamas; he views it as a convenient excuse to justify his policies.
To understand what Netanyahu is doing, remember what his predecessor, the former head of the Likud (Yitzhak Shamir) said when he lost the 1992 elections. He said that he went to Madrid prepared to talk and stall for ten years while creating facts on the ground to make compromise impossible.
Amos Perlmutter responds:
The question demonstrates ignorance of what Hamas is about. Hamas does not respond to Netanyahu. Hamas attacked Rabin and Peres. Hamas is responsible for all if not most suicide bombings in the streets of Israel's major cities. Hamas is dedicated to destroying the peace and to derailing its rival, the PLO, from coming to terms with the Israelis. Hamas never, ever responded to an Israeli policy. It is a movement dedicated to destroying the peace process, to bringing an end to the State of Israel as we have known it, and bringing down Arafat's Palestinian Authority regime.
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