No Surrender

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians want to look like they're compromising. The U.S. is urging a tactical retreat.

Dr. Abdul Aziz Rantisi stood in a chilly rain before the assembled crowd of nearly 400 Palestinians who, like him, were banished by Israel to southern Lebanon seven weeks ago. Now, said Rantisi, the group's spokesman, the Israelis were inviting each of them to appeal in person for the right to return. Would they comply? he asked the exiles huddled on a hillside near their meager tent camp. Was there an alternative to their demand for unconditional repatriation? The answer came back crisp and loud: "No. No. No."

That word reverberated through the deportation controversy last week. No, the Israeli High...

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