Neiman Marcus SURPRISES cordially invites you to join us for these events MICHAEL DAWKINS TRUNK SHOW Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17 Designer Jewelry LINDA BERGMAN TRUNK SHOW from page 27 In the first weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the White House was seen to be courting Arab states, and American Jewish leaders feared any new initiative would favor the Palestinians. But in the past two weeks, the administration has placed additional sanctions on Palestinian terrorist groups, and the White House has publicly held Arafat's feet to the fire. Jewish officials were heartened by comments such as the one last week by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. "You cannot help us with Al Qaida and hug Hezbollah," she told the Palestinians. "That's not acceptable." And despite Bush's use of the name "Palestine" to describe an eventual state during his address to the United Nations on Saturday, Jewish leaders were impressed by his tough com- ments on Palestinian violence. "No national aspiration, no remembered wrong can ever justify the deliberate murder of the inno- cent," Bush said to the U.N. General Assembly. "Any government that rejects this principle, trying to pick and choose its terrorist friends, will know the consequences. We must speak the truth about terror." ❑ Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17 Designer Jewelry COALITION from page 27 BOB MACKIE TRUNK SHOW Monday and Tuesday, November 1 9 Couture Salon STEPHEN DWECK TRUNK SHOW Thursday and Friday, November 29 and 30 Designer Jewelry THE SOMERSET COLLECTION248.643.3300 NEIMANMARCUS.COM Wedding and Party Specialists Flowers For All Occasions G OF NATURE T STATE FLOWERS .?; 11/16 2001 28 (248) 559-5424 (888) 202-4466 Fax: (248) 559-5426 29115 Greenfield, Southfield, MI 48076 a snag over the suggestion that Israel would have to dismantle some settle- ments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — or at least say it is ready to dismantle them — in order for its peace plan to carry credibility. Sharon, constantly criticized from the right by former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, is opposed to any such concession at this time. He knows it would cost him support from the Likud's more hawkish coali- tion partners — and perhaps from some members of the Likud itself By the same token, Peres and the Labor Party leadership are under mounting pressure to end their coali- tion alliance with Sharon if the Americans step up their peace efforts — and the prime minister of Israel fails to respond in a positive and forthcoming way. Meanwhile, events on the ground make the task of peacemaking seem formidable indeed. On Monday, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, China, Russia, France and England — called on Israel to withdraw from two Palestinian-controlled cities in the West Bank and urged the Palestinian Authority "to take all possible steps to put an end to violence." On Tuesday, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority rejected the statement. Israeli officials said they would with- draw from Jenin and Tulkarm after the Palestinians halt attacks against Israel. Palestinian Cabinet Minister Hassan Asfour also condemned the statement, saying it justified "Israel's terrorist acts against the Palestinian people." Sharon also has to contend with domestic politics. On Monday, Yossi Beilin, a leading Labor dove, accused Sharon of resisting peace by standing firm in his demand for a week of total quiet on the ground before imple- menting any of the proposals set forth by the Mitchell Commission in April. A U.S.-led international panel, the commission set out a series of confi- dence-building measures to help end the Israeli-Palestinian violence. Clinton Framework Beilin said Sharon, for ideological rea- sons, is determined to avoid making such a commitment. This, said Beilin, is because Sharon believes that once the negotiations resume, they will focus on the pro- posed solution put forward by U.S. President Bill Clinton a year ago. At the time, Clinton proposed to then-Premier Ehud Barak and to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat a Palestinian state on some 95 percent of the West Bank and Gaza. He also proposed that Israel give the Palestinians territory within Israel that is near the Gaza border in exchange for three settlement blocs in the West Bank. In addition, Jerusalem would be divided, with each side holding sover- eignty over the areas presently inhabit- ed by its nationals. Sharon and the Likud have rejected these proposals, and if they resurface, Likud and Labor would find them- selves at odds over how to react. Sharon, for his part, apparently hopes the Bush administration will realize that pushing its proposals too hard could backfire. For if the Sharon government falls, the polls predict, its replacement may well not be a more moderate coalition, but quite possibly a more hawkish one led by Netanyahu. ❑