Quotes of the Day

Last Monday the so-called al-Aqsa intifadeh entered its fourth year, with no light at the end of the tunnel. The relatively small number of casualties in the past several weeks does not mean that the violence between Israelis and Palestinians is any closer to ending than at any point in the three years of the intifadeh. Both sides remain immovably entrenched in their positions: the Israelis continue their occupation of Palestinian territoriy, and the Palestinians continue to insist on their right to fight this occupation.

The creation of a new Palestinian government headed by Ahmad Qrei' (Abu Ala) should not lead anybody to think that we are heading towards a peace agreement with Israel. Already, it looks like the Israelis are unlikely to cooperate with Abu Ala: they accuse him of being loyal to Yasser Arafat, ignoring the fact that Arafat is the only available partner to the Israelis for any potential peace negotiations.

Israel's reluctance to work with Arafat, coupled with his declining credibility among ordinary Palestinians, condemns both peoples to keep playing the lose-lose game that is the intifadeh. It is tragic that, although the violence has claimed the lives of 2,750 Palestinians and 864 Israelis (and injured 36,743 Palestinians and 5,879 Israelis), it has not persuaded Arafat and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to change in their attitudes.

I believe it is still possible to end the violence, but it will take great leaders, who by the force of their ideas and their rhetoric can lead their peoples to peace

Unlike the previous intifadeh (1987-1993), the current one is not a popular uprising — it is lead by militant groups. The leaders on both sides have greater direct responsibility for the perpetuation of the violence. Anyone, who spends some minutes analyzing the conflict is bound to conclude that Sharon and Arafat are preventing their two peoples from reaching a peaceful settlement. Many recently published surveys — including one by the Israeli daily Ma'ariv and another conducted by the Palestinian Surveys Center), show that a clear majority, amongst both peoples want peace.

Two years ago, many Israelis thought that replacing the "soft" Ehud Barak with the "hard" Ariel Sharon would bring a quick end to the conflict. Many Palestinians believed that increasing the militant operations against Israeli targets would force the Israelis pull out from Palestinian territory. Both peoples have since discovered how wrong they were.

Now both Israelis and Palestinians want peace, but neither side wants to be seen as surrendering to the other. I believe it is still possible to end the violence, but it will take great leaders, who by the force of their ideas and their rhetoric can lead their peoples to peace. But it seems that Sharon and Arafat are too busy engineering their own survival to think about the strategic interests of their own peoples. Over these past three years, the security, economic and social conditions in Israel and the Palestinian Territories have stradily worsened. Sharon and Arafat have failed to offer real solutions to these problems; each simply accuses the other of being responsible for the mess.

And ironically, each has helped keep the other in office. Sharon's efforts to isolate Arafat have only allowed the Palestinian leader to claim that he is unable to do much to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. And the continuing violence against Israelis persuades them that the "hard" Sharon is the only man who can fight the militant groups. The intifadeh may be lose-lose for Israelis and Palestinians, but it is win-win for their leaders.

• WADIE ABUNASSAR
• The intifadeh has brought us no closer to peace, Wadie Abunassar tells TIME