Word: terrorists
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Five days later, Halevy again raced to a scene of bloodshed, this time in southern Lebanon, as the Israeli army retaliated against Palestinian terrorist bases. Again he had a vantage point: he and Photographer David Rubinger were among the first newsmen who managed to get to the battlefield during the actual invasion. Rubinger's pictures and Halevy's reporting-along with the files of six other TIME correspondents who covered the combat-are part of this week's cover story, the 14th on the Middle East that we have run during the past four years...
Almost overnight, the Israeli attack ?and the Palestinian terrorist slaughter that had triggered it?changed the diplomatic outlook for the Middle East. Ever since Anwar Sadat undertook his "sacred mission" to Jerusalem last November, the focus had been on the pursuit of peace and the chance that, despite all the subsequent setbacks, the Egyptian President's initiative could somehow propel the protagonists toward an unraveling of their ancient grievances. Now, suddenly, the talk of peace was replaced by grave concern about a renewal of the old Middle East "cycle of violence," as U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance called...
That is not to say that in light of the realities of the Mideast some form of Israeli reprisal would not have been understandable after the brutal, peace-shattering Palestinian terrorist attack. Israel could hardly have been expected to undertake a calm, turn-the-other-cheek response to yet another materialization of a threat they have long encountered...
While the Israelis may be right in asserting that the terrorist attack lends credence to their oft-voiced concerns about security, they are clearly mistaken if they believe any kind of military operation--even the creation of a six-mile buffer zone across an entire border--can enhance that security. More likely, the Israeli move will inspire further terrorist activity and a continuation of the cycle of violence. Hate just breeds hate. The guerillas cannot be bombed into submission--they will emerge yet again as promised, if not from the north then from other borders or in other ways...
...should be noted, however, that Israel is not solely to blame for shattering the fragile status-quo. Moreover, the terrorist attack gives some validity to Israeli fears about negotiating with the PLO at this stage. That is not meant to belittle the necessity of establishing a Palestinian homeland on the West Bank. Nor is it intended to imply that an overall settlement at Geneva--taking account of that necessity--is not the ultimate solution to the problem of peace. It does suggest, though, that perhaps the best way to capitalize on the momentum left over from Egyptian President Sadat...