Três interessantes textos sobre esperança no encontro de Sharm...
:: Middle East From opportunity to reality ::
It has been a long time since the words "opportunity" and "Middle East" appeared in the same sentence. But now they are. Even better, this optimism may have some basis in reality. One important reason for this change in attitude is, of course, Yasir Arafat's disappearance from the scene. Like the Thane of Cawdor in Shakespeare's Macbeth, "Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it". Richard Haass, mais no The Independent, Bangladesh.:: Hope ascends in Mideast, but for how long? ::
For someone like me, who has spent a good part of his professional life observing and writing about the Middle East peace process, the recent expression of optimism there recalls the famous Oscar Wilde quote about second marriages. They are, he said, "the triumph of hope over experience". At the moment my judgment is more governed by experience than hope. Intellectually, I understand why there is optimism all of a sudden. Yasser Arafat is gone and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the great hawk, is talking compromise. But when push comes to shove - that is, when the tough decisions have to be made - I wonder whether this Palestinian leadership will be any more prepared or able to make compromises than the previous leadership. And I also fear that the average Israeli has become so distrustful of Palestinian motives in the wake of the second intifada that the Israeli leadership will be less flexible, less generous and less trusting the next time the big issues are on the table. James Klurfeld, mais no NY Newsday.:: Why peace is possible in the Mideast ::
It is now conventional wisdom that the new opening to a Middle East peace is a result of Yasser Arafat's death. This is only half true, and it misses the larger point. Arafat's death was a necessary condition for hope, but not a sufficient one. It was necessary because Arafat had the power to suppress and literally kill any chances of peace. But his passing would have meant nothing if it had not occurred at a time when the Palestinians finally realized that Arafat's last great gamble, the second intifada, was a disaster. Charles Krauthammer, do Washington Post, mais no Press Telegram.Comments:
Since July 2004, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has faced its most serious internal challenge since it was established in 1994. A violent showdown in the Gaza Strip between competing nationalist factions-an "old guard" and a "young guard"-has threatened to destroy the PA and, with it, what little remains of domestic security and order after four years of uprising against Israel. The ongoing turmoil represents a critical danger, not just for Palestinian society and its dreams of a unified state, but also for Israel's plan to disengage unilaterally from Gaza-a plan the United States is counting on to revive the peace process and to regain much-needed credibility in the Middle East. Khalil Shikaki, mais no 
Perhaps the second intifada has come to an end. Perhaps the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip will develop into a general, mutual cease-fire. For me, the word “cease-fire” has an extra resonance. When I was a soldier in the 1948 war, I twice experienced what it means to wait for a cease-fire. Ury Avnery, mais no 
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