JERUSALEM — Israeli shop owner Dina Shoshana looked at the morning paper Wednesday and wept. This time her tears poured from optimism.
Shoshana has watched suicide bombers detonate themselves steps from her downtown Jerusalem store. She can tick off a list of friends and acquaintances slain by Palestinian attackers in recent years.
"The last years have been years of living in fear. We were afraid to go out, afraid to come to work," said Shoshana, 35. "We never knew where it was going to explode next."
It was with relief and hope that she gazed at the photograph of Israeli and Palestinian leaders shaking hands at Tuesday's summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik, as they pledged to end hostilities. The new Palestinian leadership is sincere about stopping the violence, Shoshana said.
"It will be better," she said.
But her neighbor, Merav Mutayov, saw little to cheer about.
"It will change nothing," said Mutayov, 25. "We drank tea together a lot of times. But other than drinking tea, nothing happened."
Competing currents of hope and trepidation swirled around the region Wednesday as Israelis and Palestinians weighed the impact of the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
For many people fatigued by a Palestinian uprising that since September 2000 has claimed more than 4,000 lives, most of them Palestinian, the summit offered the possibility of a lasting cease-fire and the chance for a longer-term solution to the conflict.
Israelis imagined life without fear of bombers or shooting attacks. Palestinians dared dream of an end to Israeli military raids and a relaxation of roadblocks and checkpoints, which they say have turned their towns into virtual prisons.
In the Gaza Strip, 42-year-old Suleiman abu Azem voiced hope that the emerging thaw would lead the Israelis to reopen border crossings to Palestinian workers. He said he had worked in Israel for 15 years and wanted to return in search of a job.
"I think that the calm is coming because the people want it. I believe 90% of the people want that," he said. "The suffering is too much."
Many others dismissed the leaders' speeches as so many pretty words in a land where deep hatreds and clashing political aspirations have frustrated attempts at peace many times.
