WHY A NAZARETH ZONING CONTROVERSY IS A GOOD MODEL FOR THE PEACE PROCESS: Today's editorial in the Jerusalem Post explains why.
This is a persistent problem in negotiations: you have to sometimes be willing to have the deal fall apart over a ssemingly minor point in order to make clear that flouting the agreement at one side's convenience will not be tolerated. Because the Israelis and the U.S. were never willing to run that risk, and the Palestinaians knew it, a culture took hold where the Palestinains were never expected to abide by any of the agreements they signed. When you're looking for reasons why the Palestinains might have thought they could start the second intifada after Camp David, that's one place to look.