Mideast Peace

In the fall of 1991, I was an undergraduate student at Georgetown University, following the coverage of the Madrid peace conference. In the Spanish capital, the United States had managed to gather Arabs and Israelis around a table with the aim of ending what was then half a century of war and desperation, whose first victims were the people of the region, including the people of my country, Lebanon. As I prepared to make my first official visit to Washington as prime minister of Lebanon, I couldn't help but reflect on the price the entire word has paid since the Madrid conference failed to bring peace to the Middle East and justice to the Palestinians.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the Obama administration would continue to pursue an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal despite the failure of its central strategy, and it intends to do so by pushing hard on both sides. Clinton, facing growing skepticism about the administration's ability to make progress toward peace, said the United States would "push the parties to grapple with the core issues. " "The United States will not be a passive participant," she told Israeli and Palestinian officials and others gathered at the annual Saban Forum in Washington.

As part of an ongoing education program about the Middle East peace process, "Israel Today: Give Peace a Chance" will be the topic of the Friday Shabbat service at University Synagogue, 4915 Alton Parkway in Irvine. The service begins at 8 p.m. Rabbi Arnold Rachlis will discuss the recent Israeli elections and the victory of Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Re "Bush Holds the Key to Mideast Peace," Commentary, Oct. 29: Daoud Kuttab's comments are constructive. Before President Bush can hope for success in bringing peace to the Middle East, however, the U.S. must announce a clearly neutral policy toward the adversaries and back up our words with deeds. Otherwise we will continue to be seen as biased toward Israel, thus making it impossible for Yasser Arafat to accept the compromises that will be required for a settlement. Bush should start by extending the same courtesies to Arafat as he has to Ariel Sharon.