Fifty Years Later
Last spring, a torrent of glorious and
horrifying memories flooded the me-
dia to mark the 50th anniversary of the
surrender of Nazi Germany, whose
twisted ideology included the destruc-
tion of the Jewish peo-
March and
ple. Veterans of that
remember:
global conflict again
parachuted from air-
Jewish women
at the death camp planes, marched past
world leaders and rev-
Ravensbruck.
eled in the fact that they
lived to see the war's end
— a fate millions of their friends and
relatives did not share.
In August, there were more cele-
brations. Jewish war veterans were
among those taking part in ceremonies
to mark the half-century since V-J Day,
the surrender of the Japanese Empire.
Recalling the destruction of the thou-
sand-year Nazi Reich, crushed after a
dozen years, Jews had bittersweet
thoughts. The Holocaust was over, but
the intellectual and cultural hearts of
the majority of Jews irreparably had
been scorched. Only in recent years
have many come to grips with the cat-
aclysmic impact of that era.
Still Talking
There were many more
smiles and handshakes at
the beginning of the year as
Messrs. Arafat, Rabin and
Peres were jointly awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize. One
member of the Nobel selec-
tion committee resigned in
protest.
Despite the fanfare sur-
rounding the event, Israel's
peace talks with the Pales-
tinians could be described as
a running pattern of taking
a step forward while taking
at least two-thirds of a step
backward. By year's end, the
thorny issue of Hebron, holy
to both Jews and Muslims,
held up further progress. The
protection of Hebron's 400
Jewish residents living in the
heart of the ancient city was
the central issue. The Pales-
tinians balked at Israel's de-
mands to have army patrols
in the city and control access
to it. Yasser Arafat knew
that with Hebron a hotbed of
other than total control could
be problematic for him in the
expected coming elections.
Problems aside, important
agreements were reached in
dozens of spheres, including
water rights, tax collecting,
policing and transportation.
Negotiations with Syria,
however, remained stale-
mated. Occasionally, Syrian
President Hafez el-Assad
hinted that progress was be-
ing made. Then, this master
chess player became silent,
leaving diplomats to ponder
his next move. Israelis and
others know that without As-
sad's consent, there will be
no lasting peace. Also, with-
out movement by the calen-
dar year's end, Israelis will
be more focused on their
1996 elections than Syrian
negotiations. And, of course,
without Syria, its proxy gov-
ernment in Lebanon will
strike no deals with its Jew-
ish neighbor to the. south.
Award winners:
PLO leader Yasser Arafat,
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres and Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin receive their