Hamas Election Will Test Harper's Diplomacy

Last week's Palestinian election has presented just the sort of potentially explosive situation where tanks offer no help, but where effective diplomacy could make a difference. In a column in The Globe and Mail, Palestinian-born journalist Rami Khouri argued for the world to avoid hysteria and calmly craft a process for recognizing and achieving legitimate Israeli and Palestinian rights. He identified three nations capable of playing a pivotal mediating role: Sweden, Norway and Canada. In fact, Canada has been inching away from its traditional, respected role as an “honest broker” in the Middle East — a role established in the 1950s when former Prime Minister Lester Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to defuse the Suez Crisis. http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=46264 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on February 3, 2006]

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