It had attracted thousands of Israeli visitors because it stood for all the fruits of reason, compromise, and cooperation. Now, rhetoric, tension, and threats are ascendant. Israelis appreciated the heartfelt condolences offered to the families of the murdered eighth graders by Jordan's King Hussein. The rift with Jordan is worrisome because Jordan has had the warmest relationship with Israel of any Arab country, and it is a potential buffer between Iraq and Israel. Eulogizing the girls, Netanyahu vowed that the massacre would not shatter Israel's determination to hold onto Jerusalem, while his government emphasized that bulldozers would still break ground this week at Har Homa, a new Jewish neighborhood on the city's predominantly Arab East side.
China has more minorities than France has population.
After a series of bus bombings, Muslim Uighurs in the far-west Xinjiang region can count on more of the latter. But so overwhelming is Beijing's power that, even if no arrests are made, there's little chance such attacks will ever be more than a nuisance. The nation's 55 minorities make up less than 10 percent of the nation's 1.2 billion population and are too spread out and too poor to threaten the party's control. After 12 weeks in the Japanese ambassador's home playing chess and mah-jongg, the 72 diplomats and businessmen held captive in Peru had no reason to expect sudden rescue from the government of President Alberto Fujimori. But last week Nestor Cerpa, leader of the Tupac Amaru rebels who stormed the embassy last December, insisted that the government is digging a tunnel under the residence for an attack to free the hostages.