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So close, but yet so far

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| Thursday, December 19, 2002 | No comments posted

Thomas Geyer

David Roet, deputy consul general at the Consulate of Israel in Chicago, was on his first visit to the Quad-Cities on Sept. 11, 2001.

His plans fell apart that day amid terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. He heard the report on his car radio, then drove back to Chicago.

He returned this week to address Quad-City community leaders and the public about the current situation in Israel and to promote the country's

thriving technology and agricultural sectors � Iowa is Israel's No. 1 supplier of grain � and discuss future trade and business opportunities available to Midwest companies and farmers.

Almost all of the questions Roet responded to during his two-day visit, though, focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

"We were so close to peace 2 1/2 years ago," Roet said. "But it was one corrupt leadership that moved Israel and the Palestinians to where they are today," he added, referring to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

"Arafat was offered 98 percent of what he was asking in order to form a Palestinian state, and he said, �no,' " Roet said. "The problem is not who is leading Israel. The problem is who is leading the Palestinian people. The Palestinian leader who wants peace will find a willing partner in Israel."

He said Israel does not see a military solution to the problem, but Israel does want to continue to go into or occupy any of the Palestinian territories.

"But, more than 600 Israelis have died in the past two years," he said. "We are going to go after the terrorists. We are going to go after those who teach hate and send people to die. And the only way to do that is to go where it is starting."

John Dabeet, president of American and Palestinians for Peace, and professor of economics at Muscatine (Iowa) Community College, who is of Palestinian descent, said peace will come when both parties realize that neither of them is going anywhere.

"They need to learn to live with and respect each other," he said. "Both sides are losing in the current situation."

But the peace process needs the help of the United States, the United Nations, European Union and Russia, he said. The four are supposed to meet today to discuss what they are calling a road map to peace in the Middle East, he added.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.