Golf Outings
Still Hopeful
Former U.S. Mideast envoy says there is no substitute
for peace and expects dialogue to continue.
SHIRI REVITAL BILIK
Special to the Jewish News
F
ormer U.S. Special Envoy to
the Middle East Dennis
Ross was part of the peace
process before there ever was
a peace process. Over more than a
decade, he was one of the
main reasons Israel and its
Arab neighbors continued
an unprecedented dialogue.
On April 3, the former U.S.
envoy told an Ann Arbor
audience that, despite
recent violence, dialogue
will continue.
University of Michigan
Hillel groups brought Ross
to Ann Arbor in the midst
Dennis Ross
of an Ann Arbor campus
debate surrounding the lat-
est intifizcla (Palestinian uprising).
While many commentators have
declared former President Bill
Clinton's peace-making agenda a fail-
ure following the latest outbreak of
fighting, Ross said much was gained
from the Oslo process. He is writing a
book about the lessons he learned
while negotiating for peace.
The primary lesson, he told the
audience of about 500, is that there is
no substitute for peace — and both
_
sides know it.
"The last six months have raised more
fundamental questions about the peace
process than ever before," he said, "[But]
there is no acceptable alternative."
Before a lasting peace can be creat-
ed, Ross said, both sides must encour-
age an appropriate atmosphere. That
simply isn't the reality on the ground.
"The Palestinian leadership has done
nothing to prepare their public for
peace," Ross said.
He placed blame on both sides. The
Israelis, in turn, should not promote a
feeling of helplessness among the
Palestinians by expanding settlements
or demolishing olive groves.
"There are no unilateral outcomes
to this situation," Ross continued.
Taking drastic measures in the hope
of finally being done with the conflict
is tempting, he acknowledged, but not
practical.
A resolution would have to come as
a result of a negotiated treaty, but a
treaty that cannot be imposed on the
two sides by an outside body. That's
where Ross sees a paradox in the U.S.
negotiating role.
In retrospect, he said, the U.S.
should have been less involved in the
crucial Permanent Status Agreement.
As recent months have
shown, if the Palestinians
and Israelis did not feel like
they had ownership in the
treaty, they would not
defend it.
No Disengagement
Ross criticized President
George W. Bush's apparent
pullout from the Middle
East. He warned that Bush
is wrong if he thinks the
U.S. can fade into the background.
"If you think you can disengage
from it," he said, "it will teach you
something else. The Middle East will
impose itself on you."
Following the talk, Ross had to con-
tend with some tough questions from
the audience. But the man who has
spent endless nights with Palestinian
Authority President Yasser Arafat and
the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin was not easily discouraged.
To a question about whether the U.S.
should divest from Israel in light of
Israel's blockade of the Palestinian terri-
tories, Ross replied with an adamant,
"No." Some of Israel's actions of late
have not sat well with him, he said. But
he maintained that "a relationship with
Israel reflects a basic cornerstone of
American diplomacy."
Most questions concerned the status
of the stalled peace talks between Israel
and its Palestinian neighbors.
Repeatedly, Ross offered the audience
hope. He said the state of affairs today
still is miles ahead of where things stood
when he first entered the arena because
both sides now recognize one another.
"The landscape for peacemaking is
incredibly different today from what it
used to be," Ross said, adding that the
basic attitudes on both sides have not
changed in recent months. There will be a
point when the two sides will again begin
to talk about a peaceful coexistence.
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Sunday, April 22, 2001, 11 a.m.
Refreshments at 10:30 a.m.
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Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D.
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