For Volvo Lovers Only

New '95 940 Sedan - Final Production Closeout
240 and 740 Owners Take Note!

$21,995

Price includes: All standard
equipment and nordic package.
Destination charge, tax, title
are additional.

• The 940 has a longer wheelbase
for a smoother ride.
• Antilock Brakes and Dual Airbags
• Side Impact Protection (a 1997
safety requirement)
• Limited Slip Differential for better
winter traction
• Lower maintenance cost
• 4 year or 50,000 mile factory
warranty
• Volvo On Call roadside assistance

Expires June 30, 1995

CONVENIENT
HOURS
Open `til 9 p.m.
on Mondays & Thursdays;
and
Saturdays until 4 p.m.

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Maple Rd. West of Haggerty

624-0400

1995 Men's & Ladies'
Spring & Summer Collections
20% to 50% Off

BROADWAY

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Downtown Detroit Applegate Square - Southfield
1247 Broadway 29649 Northwestern Hwy.
(810) 335.9420
(313) 963.2171

Trust Vs. Skepticism
In PLO Aid

Congress may examine the facts, but in the end
must take a leap of faith.

JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

s the congressional dog-
fight over the renewal of
American aid to Yassir
Arafat and his self-rule
government climaxes this week,
the "national interest" will once
again be bandied about by politi-
cians who use the phrase as if it
represents some discreet, mea-
surable entity.
In reality, the national inter-
est is a dizzying blend of diplo-
matic and strategic
considerations that often seem to
conflict. With the raw emotion of
an Arab-Israeli debate added to
the mix, it's a wonder that this
democracy of ours can shape even
faintly coherent foreign policy.
The original legislation pro-
viding aid to the Palestinian Au-
thority contained language
loosely linking assistance to Mr.
Arafat to his compliance with his
own peace process promises. Jew-
ish activists swarmed Capitol Hill
this week to debate whether
Yassir Arafat has been a dismal
failure or has taken great strides
in thwarting the efforts by Pales-
tinian extremists to wreck the
fragile negotiations.
In this contest of hope, suspi-
cion and anger, Congress' even-
tual decision will more likely be
a matter of faith — or lack of faith
— than a resolution of facts.
Activists opposed to renewing
the Middle East Peace Facilita-
tion Act make the incontestable
point that the way in which we
deal with the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization is a clear mat-
ter of American national interest,
not just a question for the Israeli
government.
By whitewashing Mr. Arafat's
failure to curb anti-Israeli ter-
rorists, they argue, Congress and
the administration may under-
cut that broader effort. They in-
sist that Mr. Arafat's failure to
remove language in the PLO
charter calling for Israel's de-
struction and reports that he con-
tinues to brand Israel the eternal
enemy of the Palestinian people
in his speeches in Arabic, prove
that his new status as a peace-
maker is nothing more than a
flimsy diplomatic charade.
Some Jewish activists, point-
ing to the slow and grudging
prosecution of suspected Hamas
guerrillas, suggest that Mr.
Arafat is not really punishing
Palestinians who attack Israelis,
but only those who seek to un-
dermine his own rule.
On the other side of the ideo-

A

logical chasm, supporters of con-
tinuing PLO aid concur with the
recent State Department report
on compliance, which emphasizes
the concrete steps Mr. Arafat has
taken to end terrorism by PLO
factions and to curb violence by
Islamic extremist groups like
Hamas.
They concede that Mr. Arafat
still has a long way to go. But
they also point out that the Pales-
tinian leadership has come fur-
ther down the road to peace than
anybody anticipated in Septem-
ber 1993, when Mr. Arafat shook
hands with Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin on the White
House lawn.
Continuing American aid, they
say, represents a powerful in-
centive to keep the PLO leader
headed in the right direction. U.S.
aid provides a critical weapon in
his battle against the grinding
poverty that represents the best
recruiting tool of the Islamic fa-
natics.

Continuing
American aid,
supporters say,
represents a
powerful incentive
to keep the
PLO leader headed
in the right direction.

But opponents say that the
$500 million in American aid is
a drop in the bucket for a Pales-
tinian Authority that needs bil-
lions to build an economic
infrastructure, and that Mr.
Arafat has yet to prove that he
can use the money for the good of
his people.
Supporters emphasize the lack
of viable alternatives. If we do not
provide material support to Mr.
Arafat in his battle against ex-
tremists, the entire peace process
could unravel, at untold cost to
Israel and to our own strategic
interests.
Both sides offer some reason-
able arguments. But in the end,
the debate hinges on something
more basic — a contest of faith
vs. skepticism that makes it ex-
traordinarily difficult to interpret
these "facts."
For those who favor the peace