Editorial: Cautious optimism

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been dead for slightly more than a month now, but already his successor as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization is putting considerable distance between himself and Arafat. This week Mahmoud Abbas acknowledged that the four-year long Palestinian uprising against Israel has been a mistake and should end. In contrast, Arafat encouraged the uprising, a terrorist campaign that included suicide bombings against Israelis.

Abbas, who is seeking to win next month's Palestinian presidential vote, says his comments against the uprising are intended to encourage peace talks with Israel. It does appear that more and more Palestinians have grown weary of the conflict and want peace. It also is important that Abbas has acknowledged that there needs to be an overhaul of the Palestinian security forces, a guarantee sought by Israel. "There is security chaos," Abbas admitted. "That's why we're demanding and are seeking to unify the security apparatus."

It didn't take long to get a dose of reality about what awaits Abbas. The terrorist group Hamas immediately rejected Abbas' call for the end of the armed uprising, announcing that it won't stop carrying out attacks against Israelis. It's quite clear that statements by Abbas alone won't end violence against Israel. He must translate his pledge into action. Unless Palestinian security forces are willing to crack down on terrorist groups and prevent the spread of violence, then there isn't much hope for arriving at a true peace. But so far, at least, what we're hearing from Abbas lends itself to cautious optimism -- and that's saying a lot when assessing prospects for peace negotiations in the Middle East.