by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Students got an inside perspective on Middle Eastern peace Wednesday.
Edward Abington, who spent almost 30 years in the Foreign Service, spoke about issues of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as what the Bush administration faces in the Middle East to a crowd of about 15.
Abington advocated the United States take an active role to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"Peace agreements in the Middle East have come about only with the direct involvement of the United States," Abington said.
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Abington said if Middle Eastern peace is ever to be achieved, negotiations must begin in the next 12 months to 18 months. He said if the two sides do not meet in that time-frame, violence between Israelis and Palestinians will resume because of Israel's continued confiscation of Palestinian land.
Abington said one of the factors threatening peace is the Israeli construction of a wall separating Israelis from Palestinians.
"(Israel) maintains that it is a security measure, not a unilateral attempt to establish borders," Abington said. "I think it is a unilateral attempt to establish borders."
The wall places valuable resources, such as water, under Israeli control, Abington said. Those resources are on the Palestinian side of the 1967 borders and rightfully belong to the Palestinians, he said.
Abington also discussed the possibility of the United States going to war with Iran. Such a war would be dangerous, he said.
"The Iranians can be extremely nasty people, and they're very good at it," he said. "The Iranians have used terrorism as an instrument of state policy. I hope the Bush administration considers this very carefully before going to war."
Sophomore Peter Lisignoli said he came to the event because he is interested in the situation between Palestinians and Israelis and wanted to hear about it from a knowledgeable source. Lisignoli said Abington's presentation gave him a fresh perspective on the situation.
"I never really saw how the Palestinians were just revolting," Lisignoli said. "We often see the Palestinians as terrorists rather than just patriots. It was interesting to look at it that way."
Abington has firsthand experience in the Middle East. Between 1993 and 1997, he served as the American Consul General in Jerusalem and helped orchestrate several peace agreements. Those agreements included the Oslo Agreement, the Interim Agreement and the Hebron Agreement.
When Abington left Jerusalem in 1997, he had spent more time with former Palestinian President Yasir Arafat than any other Western diplomat. Abington said he spoke to Arafat the day before Arafat left to Paris for medical treatment.
The speech was sponsored by the UNM delegation to the Model United Nations.
Andrea Schanbacher, the president of UNM's delegation, said she was happy with the presentation, especially the final portion, which was a question-and-answer session.
"There were good questions, and he gave really good answers to those questions," Schanbacher said.
