ANALYSIS YOUR DATELIN 851-0909 When you're not looking, we ate! Shultz Shuttle: Illusion Is Mideast Reality • a selective referral dating service JEWISH SINGLES What have you got to lose? Come talk to us. HELEN DAVIS Israel Correspondent American Red Cross Blood Services Southeastern Michigan Region LO-LA The Dating Program Call 356-0949 P.O. Box 254 Claire Arm Millie Rosenbaum Lathrup Village, MI 48076 SINGLES Doift leave it to chance! Our unique and successful person-to-person approach is not a dating service. It is for serious, intelligent and successful individuals who prefer discreet and dignified introduction for a long-lasting relationship. Based on the SUCCESS of Traditional Matchmaking Ask for a Free Consultation and an Introductory Offer Love & Marriage Personal Introduction Service Inc. 851-9955 Zahava Shalom These fresh new Spring Rockports have just arrived at Mr. Alan's! Available in Black, Taupe, and Bone. Sizes 8-12. Come in and check out the whole line of Rockports at Mr. Alan's. Southfield The Original" In The New Orleans Mall 10 Mile & Greenfield Mon.-Thurs. & Sat. 10-7 Fri. 10-9 Sun. 12-5 • 559-7818 94 FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 1988 AU. ALAN West Bloomfield On The Boardwalk Orchard Lake Road South of Maple Mon.-Wed. & Sat. 10-7 Thurs. & Fri. 10-9 Sun. 12-5 • 626-3362 Downtown Birmingham 111 S. Woodward South of Maple Mon.-Wed. & Sat. 10-6 Thurs. & Fri. 10-9 Sun. 12-5 • 647-0550 erusalem — Early last year, George Shultz made it clear that the Middle East was on neither his agenda nor his itinerary. After the administration had suffered disasters in Lebanon (where it sought to make make peace) and in Iran (where it sought to trade arms for hostages), there seemed no point in playing with a fire that produced nothing but burned fingers. The only thing that would drag him back to the Middle East, he said, was to celebrate an unlikely breakthrough in the 40-year-old cycle of Arab- Israeli hostility — a peace pro- cess in which he could play a high-profile, flag-waving role. What made him change his mind? What persuaded him to plunge into the fray and undertake two exhausting — and apparently fruitless — diplomatic shuttles within a month? Why did George Shultz, a heavyweight in the autumn of his career, without personal aspirations or political ambi- tions, choose to place his substantial prestige on the line by undertaking so seem- ingly impossible and thankless a mission? The most likely explanation to the questions that baffled Middle East political scien- tists has more to do with war than peace. For it is a truism in the Middle East that unless the region is moving toward peace, it is moving toward war. Shultz, say the analysts, may have become convinced that unless there were clear signs of serious diplomatic ac- tivity at a senior level, the drift to war — fuelled by the continuing Palestinian upris- ing — would have been in- exorable; that the forces of ex- tremism would gather mo- mentum and quickly turn in- to an uncontrollable firestorm that could engulf the entire region. Not peace, but the contin- ued absence of war, is there- fore likely to have been at the heart of the Shultz shuttles. The appearance of movement, if not movement itself, may have been intended to counter those voices from Syria and the radical elements in the PLO — which oppose a politi- cal settlement and demand a military solution to the Arab- Israeli conflict. Never mind that the un- j George Shultz: Keeping up appearances. compromising official, public positions of the contending parties were also their unof- ficial, private positions. Never mind that it was based on an illusion. After all, so much Middle Eastern reality is rooted in illusion. What mattered was that the United States secretary of state was demonstrating his faith in the political process through a massive invest- ment of time and energy; that he was making determined, declarative acts to reinforce that impression, cheerfully insisting that the diplomatic option was still alive. .George Shultz might not be a true believer, but he put on a great performance. The puf- finess around the eyes became more pronounced as fatigue set in, but the smile never faltered as he painstak- ingly delivered his message of hope in one media interview after another. He must have known, as all Israelis knew, that Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir was playing an elaborate game by concentrating minds on the issue of an international peace conference in order to avoid the issue of relin- quishing territory. He must have known, as Jordanians knew, that Prime Minister Zaid Rifai was demanding a separate seat at the negotiating table for the PLO even though such a prop- osition was anathema to the king. He must have known that Syrian President Hafez Assad had no intention of coming to terms with the Jewish state (though he might postpone the day of reckoning if the price was right for his strap- ped republic). He must have known, too,