European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday december 6.1993 commentary 1 the stars and stripes Paga 17. _ i a. A. A. 1 i Quot Syria is still the key to lasting Mideast peace Anthony Lewis Warren m. Christopher was in the Middle East Over the weekend and the timing of his visit gave him a rare Opportunity to Start a process that would finally end the conflict Between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The crucial need now is to break through the stalemate in negotiations Between Syria and Israel. Prom that much else would follow. And the person Best placed to do it is the . Secretary of state. Syria has Long been the key to general peace in the Region and despite the agreement Between Israel and the Plo it still is. Indeed a High israeli official told me last month a without solving the syrian problem we can to make the palestinian agreement work a most of the palestinian rejection St groups have their Headquarters in Damas Cus. They operate at the Sufferance of the syrian government. A syrian israeli peace could effectively put them out of business. More broadly Syria has positioned itself Over the years As the Stalwart Arab party in the conflict with Israel holding out for full Justice. Thus president Hafez Assad bitterly opposed the Camp David agreement. If he made peace the rejection St cause would lose much of its Force in the whole Arab world Syria controls Lebanon and there can be no peace on israelis lebanese Border unless and until Syria moves. King Hussein of Jordan though he is plainly ready for a treaty with Israel has always been reluctant to move until Syria does. In Short a peaces agreement with Syria would mean peace on All of israelis other Borders too. It would also breathe fresh Hope and life into the plan for palestinian autonomy in Gaza and Jericho which is due to go into effect on dec. 13 but has lost support on both sides in the recent Days of increasing violence Between israelis and palestinians. _ and the time is right for syrian israeli peace. Army amp Kosher Beu it Ruthis psm6 thing is moving too �6t, at Yasser s 1 me fish it Bim in ethos  �&t>vl0e2 Assad has lost his main Patron the soviet Union. He showed by syrians participation in the persian Gulf War that he wants better relations with the West especially the United states and he understands that that depends on ending the conflict with Israel. Israel for its part now has a government that wants peace with the arabs and is prepared to meet their Basic political requirements. Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin has made it quite Clear that he is prepared to do what he must for peace with Syria agree to eventual return of the Golan Heights. In fact the main Points of a syrian israeli peace agreement cannot be in doubt. Israel will relinquish the Golan Heights Syria will agree to full peace and diplomatic relations. The negotiations will concern not territory but timing transitional arrangements and Security measures. The Washington talks with their multiple parties and publicity were a Hope less Milieu for the delicate business Israel and Syria have to do. They need secrecy patience a and a . Role. That was what Henry Kissinger supplied As Secretary of state in 197475, when Over weeks of shuttling Between Jerusalem and Damascus he negotiated the disengagement agreement that still holds in the Golan Heights. . Participation at a High level is essential again today. Israel wants and deserves the reassurance it gets from such a . Political commitment. And Assad will want Assurance that improved relations with the United states will accompany a Deal with Israel. Christopher is a reticent Man not Given to dramatic gestures. He could arrange for a special envoy of president Clinton s to do the shuttling in secret. After the White House handshake in september Rabin indicated that peace with Syria would have to wait while Israel absorbed the Plo agreement. By now he surely sees that waiting May lose both prizes. It is time for real negotiations with Syria. C tie now Yolk to Moa reaction against evil i the first sign of what could be a cultural revival for our society has been sighted. Like the swallows coming Back to Capistrano in the Spring it is a Welcome Harbinger of a season that is Long  the Middle of a new York times review of a Madonna performance there was this from writer Jon Pareles re the Girlie show recognizes the diminishing returns of  what an elegant even profound phrase the diminishing returns of explicitness a a does this mean we have touched Bottom at last and Are ready to climb out of the pit of so Howard Sterns Book which ought to have been printed on toilet paper was on the new York times Best seller list. Storms often get in some last gusts before dissipate there Are other indications that things May be changing As the fed up Ness level increases and people Are less timid about calling evil and immorality by their r 8mtv has removed scenes of pyromania from its vulgar Beavis and butt head cartoon series after a child started a copy cat fire and burned Down his family s trailer killing Nis sister. A. A better step would be to cancel the entire network a5sir,t,0ctudtoc�?~r, and some Light �?Tin5a Sagon report on the 1991 Tail Hook convention in Las vegas during which a number of women say they were subjected to sexual harassment senior offi cars were faulted for failing to curb the a atmosphere of debauchery that permeated the gathering. A debauchery is not a word we have heard lately especially in a government report. An acknowledgement that debauchery exists that it is recognizable and that it should not be tolerated offers some Hope that perhaps the practices which define the word Are no longer acceptable. Jesse Jackson having exhausted the political Arena is talking about a subject where his views could carry some weight. He is speaking in inner City schools on a Campaign a push for moral  Jackson is telling Young people to study three hours a night Cal Thomas respect the authority of parents Ana teachers and report to authorities the names of people who use or sell drugs and illegally possess guns. A new group called character counts coalition co chaired by politically conservative actor Tom Selleck and Barbara Jordan the Liberal former congresswoman wants to a improve the character of americans Young people based on six Core ethical values trustworthiness respect responsibility Justice and fairness caring civic virtue and  we used to teach these values and much More before some liberals successfully expunged them because the were said to keep company with religion. And speaking of religion the Liberal columnist Anna Quindlen laments the loss of the notion of god Quot we liberals must acknowledge this that while the rights of the individual Are precious at some deep level individualism alone docs not suffice. A and the ability of the Radical right to seize and exploit the terrain of the soul has been helped immeasurably by the failure of so Many of the rest of us to even acknowledge the souls  can i get an a a Amend for sister Anna this is precisely what the Pope is getting at in his latest encyclical which like his messages in Denver earlier this year is directed not just to catholics but to All people. The encyclical is called the splendor of truth. It seeks to re establish Universal moral norms that Are not up for grabs or subject to the changing results of an opinion poll. It asserts that Moses is to be preferred to Gallup and that the message in the Sermon on the mount is Superior to a the politics of  it has been a Long time since liberals and conservatives spoke in one voice about the need for National renewal. Perhaps this is the sign Many of us have been waiting for. Perhaps we Are finally waking up to the a diminishing returns of  c los angelas Timos