The hero of the Gulf War, Colin Powell, did not exactly cover himself in glory in his diplomatic mission to the Middle East as the US president's envoy. His task was to create "a peaceful environment" in the region currently affected by an unrecognized and undeclared war between Israel and Palestine. 
	
	
 The man who defeated Iraq in 1991 in only six weeks issued a message, saying that the most he hoped for was something less than a mutual cease-fire agreement. Another round of talks will be held today between Powell and the chief players in the Middle East. But the current development of events, that is, the standstill situation, makes it clear that US foreign policy has been put to a very serious test in which the United States needs to discipline its decades-long ally, Israel, and not ruin its relations with the Arabs. 
	
	
 The impression is that, under US sponsorship, the international community deliberated too long about the violence in the Middle East. The latest round of violence was initiated on the day in September 2000 when Ariel Sharon took it upon himself to provoke his Muslim neighbors by visiting an Islamic religious building. Sharon, who used to be a colonel and who is directly responsible for the massacre in the Beirut camps Sabra and Shatila, used his return to power as an opportunity to settle the accounts with his years-long enemies. 
	
	
 Powell's words, "we are working on this plan," are unclear, because he did not say what the plan is, and Israel's call for a conference on the Middle East is also unclear. In relation to the first ambiguity, Powell's words definitely cannot be taken seriously, considering that precisely Washington is the one that has been practicing a one-sided approach to the events in the Middle East for 18 months now and it was the chief opponent of the positioning of peace troops between the two warring sides. With an average $3 billion military aid for Israel and a strong Jewish lobby at home, the Untied States cannot play any other role in the Middle East conflict but protector of the Israeli state. In its warnings and appeals for peace, the United States openly "takes a side" in this conflict, labeling the other side terrorists, similar to those who carried out the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. 
	
	
 It would be entirely improper if, in its defense of Israel, the United States continues to exert pressure on neighboring Arab countries, such as, Syria and Lebanon, which have been accused of supporting terrorist organizations, such as the Hezbolah. It is worrying that among Powell's priorities in Beirut were the talks on the activities of the Hezbolah, with an announcement that terrorists might open a new front. In some circles, these concerns over an alleged new front are seen as an attempt to resolve the smaller Israel-Palestine problem with a bigger one. For example, a new Israeli-Arab war. 
	
	
 The international community received a lot of negative points for the Middle East. Maybe Joschka Fischer's plan for suspending Germany's military aid for Israel, that is, possible EU economic sanctions against Tel Aviv is honorable, but it is a late and disturbingly long-term plan. Europe does not have a united stance on the violence in Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, and the Palestinian refugee camps, despite the clear situation that Israel is the only country in the world that secures its borders by occupying territories of another state. 
	
	
 The EU's efforts and US President Bush's peace initiative through Secretary of State Powell seem like a late resolution, considering that approximately one month ago the Arab countries participating in the summit in Beirut held out an olive branch to Israel through the plan of Saudi Arabia's heir to the throne, Prince Abdullah, which contained two points: recognition of a Palestinian state [as published] in an Arab neighborhood, in return for recognition of the Palestinians' right to their own country. Israel did not even have the goodness to look at this plan, demonstrating arrogance toward everything Arab. In the same manner Israel asked Arafat to leave Ramallah and Palestine, labeling him a troublemaker and politician incapable of controlling the Palestinian suicide bombers.