The Peace Process

"We need to have more progress, and we need to have it sooner. I think there are a lot of people wondering what in the world is going on. At some point, I think I will owe the American people my view of the details I am not willing to discuss right now.

—President George Bush, July 1, 1991

"I have said this over and over again, that it is against US policy for these settlements to be built. We have not changed our position on these settlements, and we are not going to change our position on settlements."

—President George Bush, July 1, 1991

"I'm not against Mr. Shamir, but I'm telling him that I cannot just sit here like this and applaud while he is saying no to exchanging land for peace, no for this, no for that. Let us be flexible if we want peace to prevail.

—Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, June 13, 1991

"We refuse the fact that people try to superimpose the Iraqi military defeat on the Palestinian situation to try to rob the Palestinian situation of its moral, political and legitimate integrity.... The legitimacy of representation is based on the legitimacy of a popular constituency."

—West Bank educator Hanan Mikhail-Ashrawi, July 3, 1991

"The US government holds all the cards. The Israeli government exists on the goodwill of the American people and foreign assistance.... If we want peace, and if we want to save our troops from going back to the region again, I think we need to put the pressure on now. As that window of opportunity becomes a peephole, it is imperative that we prop it open and make sure that this process does not wait another 40 or 50 years."

—President Albert Mokhiber of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, July 3, 1991

"President Bush's peace initiative and the credibility which the US has achieved as a result of the Gulf crisis has opened the way for a possible breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is imperative that the US pursue this objective with extreme urgency and utilize the moral high ground from which it led the international coalition to free Kuwait precisely because another opportunity may not emerge and the region will then be doomed to continue decades of war, instability, and radicalism."

—Hussein A. Hammami, Jordanian Ambassador to the United States, July 15, 1991

"Syria has the right to ask us to withdraw from the Golan Heights. If Syria does ask, we shall say we do not agree."

—Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, quoted July 20, 1991

"Maybe only Shamir could make Hafez Assad look good.... Unless Shamir gets a quick fix at Dale Carnegie, he is almost certainly going to come across on American television as someone who gets stomach pains when the word 'compromise' is mentioned."

—Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, July 18, 1991

"I tend to believe that no party can afford to be accused of torpedoing the serious chance for a peace process that would lead to a genuine and just and fair settlement of the problems in the Middle East.

—Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mousa, quoted July 8, 1991

"It is apparent to me that Syria has made a very important decision. I think this is an extraordinarily important and positive step. It gives us something to work with and we are going to try and build on it throughout this trip in an effort to promote the cause of peace."

—Secretary of State James Baker, July 18, 1991

"If Israel could suspend the building of settlements in the occupied territories, I believe that the Arab states should make a reciprocal concession by suspending the boycotting. These steps could pave the way to much more progress in the peace process."

—Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, July 19, 1991

"The Arab boycott is an act of war. It's an illegal, immoral act. It shouldn't be rewarded with anything."

—Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli deputy foreign minister, on why Israel will not stop settlements in exchange for an end to the Arab boycott, July 19, 1991

"The United Nations should not participate in this peace process. It cannot contribute anything to the peace process. Everyone knows that the United Nations is basically hostile against Israel, so we do not need third parties like the United Nations if we want to have direct negotiations.

—Yoram Aridor, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, July 19, 1991

"I think it is common knowledge that the United States believes there should be an exchange of land for peace.... And how else are you going to get Syria to the table unless that's a prospect? If you go in with Israel saying, 'absolutely no exchange of land for anything, no piece of the Golan Heights is going to go back,' then what's the point of showing up?"

—Sen. John Chafee, July 21, 1991

"When Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir defies the US and refuses requests from Israel's patron state and largest benefactor, he likes to shrug his shoulders and speak in tones of studied nonchalance. So it was on Wednesday when, once again, he told Washington in essence: send the money and mind your own business."

—New York Times reporter Joel Brinkley, June 16, 1991

"We are ready to attend a peace conference, and we are very happy indeed it is going to be a comprehensive one."

—Jordan's King Hussein, July 22, 1991

"If we can get a peace process under way, in the very process of negotiating, the political dynamics of the situation change and concessions which don't seem possible today may be entirely possible, if not likely, tomorrow."

—Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-NY), July 22, 1991

"I estimate that nothing will happen, and I regret it very much."

—Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, on Baker-Shamir talks in Israel, quoted July 22, 1991

"To most Israelis, Mr. Assad is irredeemably evil. And so his present overture, they believe, is probably just a clever bluff. No matter the heavy price Israelis know they will have to pay, most seem too wary to accept Mr. Baker's terms."

—Joel Brinkley, New York Times, July 21, 1991