Hope exists in the Middle East only to be crushed by the weight of history, hate and the endless pursuit of incremental advantage. So enjoy the momentary, carefully qualified optimism crafted in Italy even while casualties mount in Lebanon and Israel.
An immediate ceasefire was what was needed from yesterday's Rome meeting of those at the conflict's centre and, like Canada, at its fringes. But in any crisis with the potential to spread, even pin-steps toward a truce are necessary preconditions for strides in the right direction.
In the midst of so much bad news, some good things are beginning to happen. Improvements in humanitarian relief are urgently needed and commitments to rebuild shattered Lebanon are essential, first to stabilize a fragile nation and then to exert the territorial control Israel demands.
Other flickers can be seen in what until now has been total darkness. Among the brightest is quick international rejection of the reckless plan to deploy NATO troops to southern Lebanon, not to enforce peace but to continue the war with Hezbollah.
In leaving that bloody task to Israel, Canada is taking a position that is both cynical and encouraging. Cynical because it winks at continued fighting and encouraging because, after polarizing the country with his "measured response" comment, Stephen Harper is demonstrating a more delicate grasp of a sharp-edged problem.
In leaving the door ajar to Canadian participation in UN peacemaking, the Prime Minister made two crucial points: Foreign intervention is not his preference and that the solution, along with the problem, is in the Mideast.
Harper's wariness is astute. There is real danger foreign involvement will inflame a localized, still manageable test of wills into a widespread, helter-skelter show of strengths pitting, among others, the U.S. against Iran.
Getting sucked deeper into the Byzantine struggle for Middle East supremacy carries enormous risks. If nothing else, Washington should have learned that from an Iraq misadventure that every day still claims 100 lives.
Belatedly, Harper seems to be accepting that while like-minded countries share values, their interests are not necessarily identical. Strongly supporting Israel's right to defend itself from Hezbollah's incendiary provocation does not cancel Canada's immediate worry for civilians and citizens or its concern for a peace process stuck in reverse.
Those aren't abstract considerations. Canadians killed over there can cause political casualties over here just as staying out of regional firefights while working for peace have implications for domestic security and the relative safety of troops fighting in Afghanistan, a country touched by Iran's sphere of influence.
That doesn't mean Canada should cower on this continent. It does suggest this country should seize opportunities even as petite as those straggling out of the Lebanon rubble.
Moderates now agree that bringing Hezbollah under control and strengthening Lebanon's fledgling democracy are essential — and linked. Presumably that will eventually end the bombing that, along with building Hezbollah's popular support, reduces the Beirut government's ability to do what it is being asked.
Can these seedlings grow into something resilient enough to thrive in a harsh climate? Only with an unflagging international effort to turn a small start into a solid beginning.
None of what needs to be done will be done easily. A ceasefire still a week or more away must lead to measurable progress on core differences.
That requires compromises that usually confound politicians trying to hold power in fissured as well as diverse countries.
On the ground, Palestinian grievances must be addressed and Gaza's grinding poverty alleviated. The alternative is more despair and death.
Up in the diplomatic stratosphere, outsiders must exercise the perseverance needed to let democracy flourish, no matter how haphazardly, and enough faith in multilateral organizations to let them muddle toward non-military solutions.
That didn't happen in Iraq and the same mistake in Iran would be catastrophic.
Avoiding that means Washington, as well as peripheral Ottawa, must take posthumous advice from Yitzhak Rabin. The former Israeli prime minister, who was assassinated by a countryman for his moderation, memorably noted that peace is made between enemies, not friends.
Not talking to Hezbollah and Hamas is as limiting as attempting to isolate Iran and Syria. Ignoring them won't make them go away.
Those kinds of hopes are false and will be blown away far more certainly than yesterday's charged meeting will lead either to an early ceasefire or a lasting peace.
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James Travers's national affairs column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. jtraver@thestar.ca.
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