Don't hold your breath

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Ryan Chirnomas

The very next day, war broke out. Israel fought for its independence and survival. Fast forward to 1967. Another war. The Israel Defense Forces defeated the Arab nations in six days. Skip to 1973. Yet another war. Arab forces invaded on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish Faith. Israeli forces overcame the surprise attack and were victorious.

Over the next two decades, the two sides attempted to move toward a reluctant peace. Egypt shocked the Arab world in 1978 by recognizing and signing a peace treaty with Israel at Camp David. Egyptian president Sadat was soon assassinated.

In 1993, the Oslo peace accords were signed, complete with the strange sight of an Israeli Prime Minister shaking hands with the leader of the PLO, Yasser Arafat. Israeli Prime Minister Rabin was soon assassinated. It seems not everyone wanted peace.

Throughout these peaceful agreements, the fundamentalist group Hamas continued to show their dissatisfaction with the blood of Israeli civilians. Regardless of what papers diplomats signed, terrorism continued. Busses exploded, shots were fired and stones were thrown.

Most recently, the Wye River conferences produced another peace treaty. Essentially, Israel traded land for promises of a Palestinian crack-down on terrorism. Brought to the world courtesy of a special report on every major network, the involved parties were all smiles. A perfect photo-op for President Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Netanyahu. One would almost believe that the three of them go shoot pool and knock back a few beers afterwards.

A few days after the Wye River agreement, a terrorist attempted to crash his bomb-laden car into a bus of Israeli school children in the Gaza Strip. In the failed attempt, he killed himself and an Israeli soldier. So much for peace.

I can't say that I'm all that surprised. In fact, I'd bet my weight in shekels that this treaty will do little more to end the Arab-Israeli conflict than Steve Guttenberg's departure did to end the Police Academy film series.

There's one simple reason for this. The conflict is no longer waged on the battlefield, but on city streets, completely at random. The whole concept of terrorism is that it is unexpected, and therefore cannot be effectively legislated. One never knows were and when an extremist will detonate a homemade bomb.

The PLO was founded in 1964 with two primary goals, as stated in its charter. They sought to found a Palestinian state, and to destroy the Jewish one. Also mentioned in the charter is the necessity of guerrilla warfare, or in other words, terrorism.

While the PLO has morphed in the Palestine Authority, and terrorism has faded from its official policy, the violence continues. The militant wing of the fundamentalist group Hamas recently denounced Arafat's Palestinian Authority and pledged more terror.

As much as the Israeli government, its Mossad secret service, or Palestinian Authority wish to stop terrorism before happens, it is clearly impossible. No matter how many hands are shaken or documents are signed, extremists on both sides hardly share their leaders' peaceful sentiments. Regrettably, busses will still explode, shots will still be fired and stones will still be thrown.

Israel and the Palestinians act like children who cannot share their one precious toy. For now, the United States has stepped in as nanny and forced them to shake hands and play nice. But when the nanny's not looking, will they still be able to share the toy peacefully? Don't hold your breath.

Ryan Chirnomas is a molecular and cellular biology senior. His column, In Hasselhoff We Trust, appears every Monday and he can be reached via e-mail at Ryan.Chirnomas@wildcat.arizona.edu.