Middle East: Finally Face to Face

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-- SYRIA was quite as intransigent. Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa told the conference that Israel must give up "every inch" of the lands conquered in 1967. The next day he directed a ferocious personal diatribe at Shamir. The Syrians came across as bellicose tough guys who seemed to have no idea how to play to a worldwide audience -- and maybe didn't care. They only had to please an audience of one: Hafez Assad.

-- THE PALESTINIANS were big winners. Instead of the unshaven face of Yasser Arafat, they presented an image of intelligence, professionalism and sensitivity. They sounded the most conciliatory notes and made the first substantive concession, explicitly saying they will now accept the limited self-rule they spurned when it was offered as part of the Camp David agreement.

Haidar Abdul-Shafi, head of the Palestinian delegation, easily trumped Shamir. Though the substance of his talk was in many ways just as unyielding, its tone was mild, not complaining or self-righteous. He too was playing a public relations game, appealing to the Israeli peace movement and worldwide sympathizers.

More than public relations is involved in making peace, of course. The differences are real, the anxieties and fears -- and ancient hostility -- genuine. But paradoxically, p.r. may offer some hope. If both sides figured that they could not afford to stay away from this conference, they might calculate that they also cannot afford to let it break down, and thus they might be drawn to offer concessions -- minimal and grudging, to be sure -- to keep it going. Maybe not. But if in the Middle East it is always wise to prepare for the worst, it is equally necessary to expect the unexpected.