European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday october 21, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Marcus Eliaso Road to Middle East peace won t be easy v4ws $0n�1tm6ftfttlw� int hike about  West 6ank setting up the Arab israeli peace conference took James a. Baker Iii eight Middle East shuttles and eight months of backbreaking negotiation battered emotions and repeated frustration. That was the easy part. Now that the parties Are to meet in Madrid Spain on oct. 30, the real issues that have bedevilled the Middle East for decades will be Back in All their daunting complexity land peace settlements the arms race and the palestinians. But for now Baker is entitled to savor his Triumph. In a single breathtaking Day Jerusalem witnessed a an unequivocal Promise by prime minister Yitzhak Shamir to attend the conference. A the first Ever meeting Between a . Secretary of state and a soviet foreign minister in Israel another stunning example of How the world has changed since the cold War ended. A the restoration after a 24-year rupture of diplomatic ties Between Israel and the soviet Union a a move that met a key israeli condition for attending the conference and which will do much to ease israelis sense of diplomatic isolation. The real test will not come during the ceremonials in Madrid but afterwards when the conference becomes face to face negotiations Between Israel and each Arab state As Well As the palestinians. That is what Israel wants and that is what Baker promised. Israel held out for the direct talks plus separate multilateral negotiations on regional issues because it sees these As a test of the arabs readiness to accept the jewish state As a Friendly neighbor. To the arabs the heart of the matter is the land they lost to Israel in the War in the Mideast in 1967, and the palestinians who were made homeless by israelis creation. The israelis conditions for talking to the palestinians Are revealing they reject not just the Palestine liberation organization but any palestinian living outside the West Bank or Gaza strip. To do otherwise in the israeli View would be to acknowledge that the palestinians who live abroad in their so called Diaspora have a claim on not just the occupied territories but Israel proper. The palestinians want a state of their own. Israel does not recognize palestinians As a separate nation the Best it offers is autonomy in an israeli controlled West Bank and Gaza strip. Except for the most dovish israelis no one Here would accept a withdrawal to the pre-1967 War Borders and no Arab Leader has Ever offered to Settle for any thing less than that. So the Gap is enormous. The israelis say the test of Arab intentions is their willingness to discuss matters of Good neighbourliness like sharing water and ending the arms race. But Syria israelis most formidable foe says it does no to want to attend talks on these matters. The arabs say the test of israelis Good Faith is whether it will agree to Stop building jewish settlements in the occupied territories. Israelis government which regards the territories As its biblical Birthright says it wont do that. Then there is the vexing Issue of Jerusalem. Israel captured its Arab sector from Jordan in 1967 and proclaimed the City United As israelis capital. To Israel. Jerusalem is non negotiable. The palestinians want the Arab half to be their capital. Many israelis say that they could go a Long Way to compromising but Only Over a Span of years during which the two sides would gain Confidence in each other s peaceful intent. But they worry that the United states in its impatience to Settle the conflict will use its economic clout to push Israel Back to the Borders that divided Jerusalem and constricted the populous coastal Plain into a 15-mile-wide Waistline. A we have no illusions about the hard work that lies ahead a a Baker said in Jerusalem. Shamir echoed him saying the Road would be a Tough full of obstacles  a there May be All sorts of crises along the Way a he said a but we must t Dodge the risk of taking this Road because there is no.  c Tho Assoc Atoil press Haynes Johnson Thomas Hill Battle had redeeming qualities piety not Power its use and abuse is now the watchword in Washington. In the aftermath of the brutal Clarence Thomas Anita Hill Battle the single most disgraceful and disturbing political episode of a generation the clucking sounds heard All Over the capital Are those of sinners repenting. How terrible it All was they say. What a perversion of the process. How sad How demeaning How unfair. Never again can such degradation of democracy be permitted to happen. Reforms must be instituted. Sanctimonious politicians Are competing to place on the Public record their professions of regret. L it the Healing begin they say. Interest groups representing All sides virtuously shun responsibility for contributing to the utter ugliness of the affair. Pious promises to do better next time Are heard even As Silver linings Are discovered among the dark Clouds shrouding the capital. In the final moments before tuesdays confirmation vote. Senate majority Leader George j. Mitchell. A Maine spoke for everyone. A perhaps something Good Roay yet come from this terrible episode he said a if the National debate which it has generated leads to changed attitudes leads to a process w Here serious charges can be evaluated in a More fair and less controversial Way to a society where the words of women have the same weight As the words of men to a society where the workplace will finally be free of All discrimination whether by race by sex or in any other  Well yes of. Course perhaps that might happen someday somehow in some Distant millennium. In the meantime americans Are properly registering disgust with the sorry spectacle they witnessed. It was mean vicious dirty. Virtually no one involved a whether president politician committee Media nominee accuser or interest group a has emerged unsullied. The Rawest emotions were exposed bringing to the surface elements of racism sexism mccarthyism. These emotions even involved As virtually everyone has noted fundamental personal conduct Between men and women now and into the future in ways that Are Likely to produce new tension and misunderstanding in the Short term at least. But this episode did have redeeming qualities and there Are sensible Steps that can be taken to improve the much abused and discussed  first the pluses to an extraordinary degree the televised confirmation hearings were a Wel come destroyer of stereotypes especially african american stereotypes. The lingering White stereotype a or prejudice a about Blacks being predictable members of an ideological political Monolith who March in lock step was shattered forever by the sight of so Many Tough savvy and Bright Young Black professionals men and women stating strongly opposing conservative and Liberal positions memorably and effectively. It is also obvious whatever damage was done to Hill As a woman Brave enough to place her reputation on the line under painfully difficult circumstances that the nation has experienced a remarkable airing of the nature of sexual harassment. This is not an Issue that will fade with memories of the Thomas hearings. It is certain to become More Central As women assume greater roles in american private Public and yes political life. For All of the bitterness and unfairness they engendered these hearings signalled change for the better in helping the Public to understand what is at stake. The american workplace will never be the same nor should it be. As for the a a process no one should expect or want politics to be removed from the process. Out of the rough and Tumble clash of competing political views and factions comes the consensus that has enabled the United states to mature and right wrongs for More than 2lh years. But in the Wake of this disaster the Senate must restore a sense of dignity and fairness so people believe that the process is in fact an honest search for truth instead of a vehicle for distortion and character assassination. In the future let a distinguished chief counsel of impeccable Independent reputation ask the main questions of witnesses at confirmation hearings and conduct the Cross examination As was done in the hearings by sen. Estes Kefauve Ron organized crime and in the army Mcc Arthy and watergate hearings. Then let the senators make their self serving speeches in the Guise of real questions if they must but rigorously limit them to a reasonable agreed upon amount of time before the cameras. And in the television age where every politician lusts to become a King of the lights that self effacing Prospect is about As Likely As in another Day a Marie Antoinette joining an order of the suffering poor before the revolution. C Tho Washington Post