DATE=05/08/02

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=MIDDLE EAST BOMBING

NUMBER=6-125661

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=YES

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Right in the middle of White House talks on the Middle East between President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Tuesday, a new terrorist bomb went off. It not only killed at least 16 Israelis and wounded dozens more, but according to several U-S newspaper editorials, it blew a hole in the latest American-led peace efforts. Mr. Sharon hurriedly returned to Israel, vowing revenge.

We get a sampling of early comment on this latest setback in the troubled Middle East from ______________in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: A man apparently dressed as a technician walked into a billiards hall near Tel Aviv Tuesday [5-7] evening and detonated a powerful bomb. It blew out the building's third floor, killing and maiming people with nails and other sharp objects. It was the first suicide bombing since April 12th when a woman detonated a similar bomb at a Jerusalem market, killing herself and six others. Several American papers are editorializing on this latest setback to the peace effort, and we begin with this outrage from The New York Post:

VOICE: The timing was no coincidence. It was meant to send a message to the world. It was, in fact, meant to demonstrate America's moral impotence in dealing with Yasser Arafat. As if the world did not get that message April 12th when Secretary of State Colin Powell was greeted with a suicide bombing upon his arrival in Israel to meet with, among others, [Chairman] Arafat. That bombing was the work of the Arafat-controlled Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade - - and yet [Secretary] Powell went ahead with his meeting ** anyway.** [Editors: italics for emphasis]

How feckless is America that it can absorb such insults and continue on as if nothing at all has happened? Feckless enough that Washington apparently remains willing to swim in [Mr.] Arafat's cesspool.

TEXT: Thoughts from The New York Post. The Dallas [Texas] Morning news is dispirited both by the bombing, and also by reports that the meeting of the President and Prime Minister did not achieve much.

VOICE: Israeli Prime Minister … Sharon apparently came to the Oval Office Tuesday more committed to dissing [Editors: slang for "criticizing"] Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat than to removing any of the obstacles to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. His meeting with President George W. Bush unfortunately broke down over key fundamentals, some of which Mr. Sharon had expressed an earlier interest in pursuing. That includes the creation of a Palestinian state, which must occur if Israelis and Palestinians are ever to find a way forward.

In fairness to Mr. Sharon, he believes that Yasser Arafat is simply incapable of making peace. And Tuesday's horrific suicide bombing in Israel makes one wonder whether Yasser Arafat can control the more radical forces at work within the Mideast. … The sooner ... the U-S and other negotiators can find a suitable substitute, the better the chances for stability.

TEXT: Excerpts from a Wednesday [5-8] editorial in The Dallas Morning News. In the Midwest, Michigan's Detroit Free Press discusses the evil timing of the two events.

VOICE: It was no coincidence that a murderous attack on Israeli civilians occurred… just as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was meeting at the White House with President George W. Bush. But whatever message it was supposed to send was muddled in the blood of innocents. [Does the attack mean] that peace is hopeless?

TEXT: New York's Daily News says the attack helped Mr. Sharon characterize Yasser Arafat as a terrorist.

VOICE: While the Israeli prime minister was meeting in the Oval Office with President Bush, [Mr.] Sharon's case against the Palestinian leader was made in blood as yet another homicide bomber massacred dozens of innocent Israelis. … Do not be fooled by the apologists who argue that in the wake of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, [Chairman] Arafat lacks the security forces to prevent terrorism.

He created the nihilistic culture that rules the West Bank and Gaza. He has promoted violence his entire life. His Palestinian Authority sponsors the terror operations … He teaches Arab children that Israel must be destroyed. He instills in them the leprous lie that murder is noble if it means more dead Jews. Yesterday's atrocity was simply a continuation of [Mr.] Arafat's cowardly war against Israel's civilian population.

TEXT: From an editorial in the nation's largest tabloid daily, The [New York] Daily News. Across town, The New York Times has this to say:

VOICE: The aim of the terrorists is to prevent any effort to negotiate an end to the Middle East conflict. To deny them that power, the United States must seize control of the political agenda in the region and insist that responsible Israeli and Palestinian leaders not let renewed violence sabotage efforts to construct a lasting peace. … no amount of military action can stop the suicidal madness.

TEXT: Calling the attack "a new body blow to peace, Wisconsin's Milwaukee Journal laments:

VOICE: The tragedy of the Middle East is that its parallel universes seem to swallow up everything before them, suspending time. So it was on Tuesday. In the universe of diplomacy and international affairs, the president of the United States hosted the prime minister of Israel in a talk about what has happened, what is happening now and what will be in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. In the universe of Israel and the territories around it, while [President] Bush and [Mr.] Sharon were meeting, a bomb detonated by another Palestinian bent on suicide and multiple homicide exploded…

/// OPT ///

What now? This bombing says one of two things - - that [Chairman] Arafat has no real control over the suicide-homicide bombers or that he does and has sanctioned these acts, as the Israelis have maintained. Either way, it certainly challenges whatever bona fides [Mr.] Arafat can still claim as the partner in peace that Arab nations - - and even the Bush administration - - insist he must be.

/// END OPT ///

… There is an essential point that often gets missed: if these suicide attacks against Israel - - 60 of them since September 2000 - - ended and an enduring period of calm followed, many Israelis would press [Mr.] Sharon to make peace.

TEXT: Lamentations from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. On the West Coast, California's San Jose Mercury News calls the latest event a: "repulsive, but all-too-familiar, terrorist attack was no doubt cynically planned to cause maximum loss of life and maximum damage to any hopes of progress in Washington."

Lastly, in Michigan, The Detroit News pleads with President Bush not to "force [Chairman] Arafat on Israel, explaining:

VOICE: President … Bush Tuesday asked Israeli Prime Minister … Sharon to violate a core principle of the Bush Doctrine: never negotiate with terrorists. [Mr.] Sharon came to his meeting … carrying a stack of evidence linking Palestinian Authority chairman … Arafat to the string of terrorists attacks that have killed more than 700 Israelis in the last 20 months. The evidence includes documents recovered from the rubble of [Mr.] Arafat's Ramallah headquarters … The papers, the Israelis contend, show that [Chairman] Arafat personally authorized payments to fund the suicide bombings.

… While not dismissing the evidence, [Mr.] Bush continued to insist that [Prime Minister] Sharon accept [Chairman] Arafat as a negotiating partner. … [Mr.] Sharon is right to refuse to negotiate with a terrorist or the supporters of terrorism, and to insist that the Palestinians send a more trustworthy representative to the bargaining table. [President] Bush should support him in that position.

TEXT: That plea from The Detroit News concludes this sampling of early reaction to Tuesday's bombing that cut short Prime Minister Sharon's U-S visit.

NEB/ANG/SAB