Michel's Commentary by Michel Dresser

12/27/2001  888WebToday  Michel Dresser

 
It is said, the skies over Bethlehem once rang with heavenly choirs proclaiming "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Man."  The irony of Bethlehem's recent association with war and strife among men in the Middle East, has been widely commented upon.  This year, things seemed worse than ever!

This Christmas season, in the Holy Land, was proceeded with the deaths of over 50 Israelis, slaughtered by Palestinian suicide bombers.  Israel's new, hard line, Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, was cracking down.  Israel executed air strikes against the Palestinian International Airport, closing it down. Road blocks were thrown up around the West Bank city of Jericho and travel out of the territory controlled by the Palestinian authority was severely restricted.

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, was hold up in the village of Ramallah, under virtual house arrest.  He was threatening to attend Christian church services on Christmas Eve, despite an Israel ban against him doing so.  Arafat vowed he would go on foot to Bethlehem Christmas Eve, just to defy Sharon.

Sharon's critics, both inside and outside Israel, were saying that the Prime Minister was deliberately provoking a showdown at this time so that America's War against Terrorism might be widened into a general war between the United States and Israel on one side and the enemies of Israel on the other .. the world was holding its breath.

But then  -- peace broke out!  Arafat was disinvited to attend services at the Armenian Orthodox Church in Bethlehem, and decided not to go.   Israel began lifting its roadblocks.  It also planned to allow the Palestinians to rebuild their airport.  Both of these steps would help restore the economy of the region, which has been disrupted by the strife of the last few months.

Palestinian and Israeli security officials have negotiated a mutual withdrawal from the West Bank village of Azzoun, where, just a few days before, a violent clash seemed inevitable.

The best news, was the report of a new agreement secretly negotiated over the Christmas Holiday between Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmed Qureia.

It seems too good to be true - since this is the Middle East - it probably is!  It is said that the secret agreement would permit the Palestinians to declare their own state immediately.  A new independent state that would include over forty percent of the West Bank and most of the Gaza Strip!

The final status of the City of Jerusalem, the actual borders of the new Palestinian state, and what is to happen to the Jewish settlements:  these are significant issues that have yet to be settled - and that process could take years.

It would appear that a corner was turned in the Little Town of Bethlehem over this Christmas.  The dramatic reversal of the political climate was almost as startling as the appearance of a choir of Angels in the winter skies.

And those are my thoughts...........
 

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