EDITORIAL - A Palestinian state

Israeli tanks have pulled out of Ramallah, allowing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to move around once again in his own city. Arafat has ordered the arrest of another man tagged as one of the assassins of an Israeli minister. Relative calm in the Middle East?

As the world knows, calm has a brief life span in that volatile region. Destruction of Palestinian homes, buildings and posts accompanied the Israeli pullout from Ramallah, the biggest city in the West Bank. Arafat may be trying to crack down on Palestinian terrorists, but he has been losing his grip over the militants among his people.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a long-running reminder of what happens when both sides refuse to compromise in an ugly war. Over 1,000 Palestinians have died in their uprising that started in September 2000. Although Israel’s death toll of 300 is lower, the Palestinians have expanded their attacks from the West Bank and Gaza to the heart of Israel, blowing up a cafe just across the street from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s official residence last week. Eleven Israelis were killed in the suicide attack. And Sharon, who had promised his people "peace with security" upon his election 13 months ago, is losing popular support. His pugnacity prompted the United Nations Security Council to approve for the first time last week a resolution supporting a "vision" of a Palestinian state. The resolution was drafted by Israel’s biggest ally, the United States.

There is no excuse for terrorism, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been used successfully by Osama bin Laden to rally militant Muslims to his terrorist cause. If American troops are back in the Philippines, the conflict in the Middle East is part of the reason. Islamists see Israeli attacks on Palestinians as a cause for a holy war or jihad not just against Israel but against its principal backer, the United States, and by extension, against American allies. The violence must stop, and the UN resolution supporting a Palestinian state is a step in the right direction.