Summit Approaches Amidst Bitter Feelings

Oct. 15 -- On the eve of a summit aimed at achieving a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, both sides continue to cast blame on each other for recent violence but say they still have long-term hopes for a permanent peace.

President Clinton is leaving today to attend Monday’s summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, even as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright downplayed expectations — saying a cease-fire to the current violence is the goal.

”We don’t have illusions about the summit, as the president said yesterday, but I think it’s important that we have it,” she said on ABCNEWS’ This Week. “We think it’s very important to end this period of violence and get a period of calm.”

That goal is a far cry from recent optimistic assessments about peace in the Middle East that prevailed before more than two weeks of unrest killed more than 100 people, mostly Palestinians. Just a few weeks ago, many felt a final, permanent peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians was within reach.

Perhaps it is significant that the last thing President Clinton did before heading to the Middle East this time was go to church — appropriate, perhaps, given the enormity of the task he and his National Security team face in the days ahead.

Anger Continues

Although deaths from the unrest apparently have subsided in recent days, tempers still are hot.

Today, thousands of Palestinians were calling for continued fighting. Many mostly young protesters have been influenced over the years by militant factions like Hamas and Hezbollah — not by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

And the anger extends beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories. Throughout the Arab and Muslim world, thousands have taken to the streets.

In Beirut today, supporters of Hamas condemned Arafat for even thinking about peace with Israel.

Hezbollah guerrillas kept up pressure on the Israelis, claiming in Lebanon today that they have captured an Israeli army colonel.