'A Very Fateful Step'

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( This article is an interview by Newsweek with Sharon first and then Abbas (about 5 pages total), barb)

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'A Very Fateful Step'
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders, both facing tough opposition, differ on what is needed to advance peace talks.


By Lally Weymouth
Newsweek
Sept. 19, 2005 issue - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who once encouraged Israelis to settle in Gaza and the West Bank, recently did an about-face. At the age of 77, he ordered the military to uproot all Israeli settlements in Gaza and to evacuate four more in the West Bank. Now Sharon sits in his office in Jerusalem accosted by critics who claim he has put his country in danger. Members of his own party are trying to oust him from office. In Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas struggles to show the world that he can stop terrorism, disarm rival militias, combat corruption and enhance the lives of his people. Both leaders spoke last week to NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth. Excerpts:

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WEYMOUTH: Why did you decide that disengagement is the right thing to do?
SHARON: I never thought there would be any possibility that a small Jewish minority in Gaza—seven or eight thousand Israelis, among 1.2 million Palestinians, whose number doubles every generation—might become a majority or a place that could be an integral part of the state of Israel.

What is next in the peace process?


snip
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9285504/site/newsweek/