Facing Middle East

In a strange twist of events, the situation in Middle East has
turned bloody and deadly. This comes after a controversial Arab Summit
held yesterday in Beirut, Lebanon where the only heads of Arab states
aligned with Israel, King Abdullah of Jordan and President Mubarak of
Egypt, failed to attend.

Only hours into the summit, after the president of Lebanon disallowed a
live video feed of Palestinian Chairman, Yesser Arafat, addressing the
summit, a Palestinian bomber entered a crowded restaurant in Israel and
blew up himself killing at least 19 and injuring several dozens of
people. The diners were gathered for a Passover dinner. Mr. Arafat
publicly denounced and condemned this brutal and murderous act even as
the US president George W. Bush bitterly urged Mr. Arafat to stop these
barbaric acts of terror,

Israeli President Ariel Sharon, in an unprecedented military response
to the relentless series of suicide bombing attacks by Palestinians on
the Israelis, has sent military tanks into Arafat's city of Ramallah.
The tanks have apparently surrounded Yesser Arafat's compound in an
attempt to arrest or force him into exile.

This escalation of conflict comes amid the release of a peace plan
proposal by the Arab world at the summit. Whether this proposal that
gives hope for peace in the region will in fact result in a lasting
truce and ultimate end to this crisis that has survived generations
remains to be seen