The Bush administration's call for an international conference on the Middle East this Summer was precipitated by the convergence of events that has dramatically changed the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The proposed conference can make important progress toward peace

By believing that they could force Israel out of the West Bank through violence as Hizbullah presumably had forced Israel to evacuate Southern Lebanon, the Palestinian leadership have made a disastrous mistake. Their equating Southern Lebanon with the West Bank has given the Palestinian public

President Bush's decision to dispatch Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East to seek a cease-fire and search for a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is critical and overdue. Secretary Powell's prospects for success, however, will largely depend on the willing

The United States, and only the United States, is the final political arbiter between Israel and the Palestinians, for only we have the power to stop the current ferocious cycle of mutual destruction. Unfortunately, up until now the Bush administration has shown no vision for peace, no determin

NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) — NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) — In an article by Akram Baker, a former communications advisor to the Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs (the late Faisal Husseini), and published by UPI on April 18, the writer strongly admonishes the Israelis for their occupation.

The momentum generated by Crown Prince Abdullah's peace proposal, the United Nation's resolution calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the Bush administration's renewed commitment to end the violence, coupled with the growing internal Israeli as well as Palestinian pressure on their respective authorities to halt the escalating violence, could produce a cease-fire that will subsequently lead to political negotiations.

Both Prime Minister Sharon and Chairman Arafat owe it to their own people to provide the Arab League meeting in Lebanon with an opportunity to deliberate Crown Prince Abdullah's peace proposal in an environment not poisoned by the mounting body count. President Bush's belated decision to change his strategy and take a more active role to end the bloodshed is welcome. We must exert all necessary pressure on Sharon and Arafat to prevent the premature death of the peace initiative because of the continuing violent extremism. If there is a time for the three leaders to demonstrate leadership, that time is now.

Whatever motivated Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to propose a general formula for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, the proposal and its timing are extremely significant and warrant serious consideration by all affected parties. The proposed peace plan, however, will not work unless a number of conditions involving the Saudis, Israelis, Palestinians and the United States are first established.

The past 18 months of dehumanizing violence between Israel and the Palestinians might have forced Arafat to give up his demand for repatriation of the Palestinian refugees, a demand that torpedoed the Camp David negotiations in the summer of 2000. This critical shift in policy has begun to have a revitalizing effect on the Israeli peace now movement. These developments, if carefully nurtured by the United States, could finally usher in an agreement based on a two states solution.