- by Mary Shaw
www.OpEdNews.com
World leaders and
political pundits
are speculating that
the upcoming
Palestinian
elections, scheduled
for January 9, might
pave the way for
renewed Middle East
peacemaking efforts.
This is encouraging.
However, I suspect
that Middle East
peace will depend on
much more than the
success of the
elections and
finding the right
successor to Yasser
Arafat.
It will require an
attitude adjustment
on both sides of the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Recently I stopped
by a demonstration
on Rittenhouse
Square in my
hometown of
Philadelphia. It had
been advertised as a
protest against
Israel's "separation
wall." The wall,
intended to stop
Palestinians from
entering Israel to
carry out attacks,
is actually cutting
off hundreds of
thousands of
innocent Palestinian
civilians from
essential services
in nearby towns and
villages and from
their farming land
