Editorial: Powell should meet victims

How can Powell move Sharon?

We suggest that Powell take a trip to Jenin, the West Bank community that saw fierce fighting - with serious losses of Israeli and Palestinian lives - on the eve of Powell's arrival. The details of what happened in Jenin and other West Bank cities, villages and refugee camps after Israeli Defense Forces entered those regions remain cloaked in mystery because of an Israeli-imposed news blackout.

Sharon claims Israel's actions in Jenin were part of a legitimate effort to find and either arrest or kill Palestinian terrorists who are responsible for launching suicide bombing attacks on Israeli civilians. Arafat claims that Palestinian civilians were killed in great numbers in Jenin and elsewhere, and that the infrastructure of Jenin and other cities, villages and refugee camps was destroyed as part of a military assault that aimed to destroy the ability of the Palestinian Authority to function.