Middle East: Let the Game Begin

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The Palestinians' disarray is not entirely their own doing. At Israel's insistence, only residents of the territories who are not connected with the Palestine Liberation Organization will formally participate in negotiations. However, their moves are determined by the P.L.O., whose leadership is scattered outside the occupied lands. P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat keeps in constant telephone contact with key Palestinians in the territories.

The troubling fact is that many of them lack faith in the outcome of the process. "If you ask the average Palestinian," says Ghassan al- Khatib, an economist and another potential delegate, "he will say this is nonsense; Israelis don't want peace, and the Americans are not serious about pressing them." Those who are not merely dismissive of the conference tend to be vehemently opposed to participation in it, and they include the followers of the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas as well as the so-called rejectionist factions of the P.L.O.

The climate of cynicism is a handicap for the Palestinian negotiators. They lack a mandate to accept the compromises that may be necessary for reaching a settlement. If they make concessions to Israel, there is the possibility they will be labeled traitors to the Palestinian cause; at worst, they risk violence. Beneath the vibrant bougainvilleas that peep over the wall ^ surrounding Palestinian interlocutor Faisal Husseini's Jerusalem home is a warning message branding him a "surrenderist."

The vast gap between the contending positions will become evident as soon as the Israelis and Palestinians begin to haggle. While the Palestinians see autonomy, a modified form of self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the starting point for an eventual independent state, Shamir sees it as the most Israel will ever concede. Somehow, someone someday will have to devise an ingenious bridge to bring these two profound enemies any closer. But for the first time, at least, all the inimical parties in the Middle East have said they are ready to try.