EDITORIAL - No end to the violence

For the past months the bombings in the Middle East have become so commonplace that we are jolted back to awareness of the horror only when Filipinos are added to the continually growing casualty list. Over the weekend another bomb ripped through yet another bus in Israel, this time near the northern town of Tsfat. At least nine passengers were killed, among them Filipina workers Adelina Cunanan, 44, and Rebecca Ruga, 39.

It was the grim handiwork of yet another Palestinian suicide bomber. The terrorist group Hamas has since claimed responsibility for the attack, which is sure to provoke another retaliatory action from Israel. The vicious cycle has gone on for nearly two years, with both sides seen as losers.

The enemies in this conflict seem irreconcilable. The current Israeli leadership believes the Palestinians and their supporters in the Arab world use the peace process only for a breather in their continuing campaign to achieve their principal objective: to drive every Jew out of Israel. The Palestinians, for their part, suspect that the Israelis would never allow them to have their own homeland.

Yesterday Washington risked widening the conflict by accusing its ally Saudi Arabia of providing aid to Palestinian militants. The Arab world has long resented US aid to Israel, and the accusation is sure to rankle. But Palestinian militants are known to receive funding from abroad, and all nations that abhor terrorism must do their part in cutting off the flow of those funds.

Even if the flow can be stanched, however, no one is sure how to jumpstart the peace process in that troubled region. There has been too much bloodshed and too much distrust. At one point the two sides could not agree on which should come first: an end to the suicide bombings or a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories. No sooner had the Israelis withdrawn than the bombings resumed. Palestinians, including their leader Yasser Arafat, maintain they have no control over suicide bombers. Israelis say they will continue their raids on suspected terrorist lairs in the Palestinian areas as long as the bombings continue. We’ve all been down this road before. Will the killings ever end?