Middle East Peace Process

Recent years have witnessed a series of landmarks in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Following intense behind-the-scenes contacts between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Oslo, an agreement was achieved between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat (Satloff 14). On September 9, 1993, Chairman Arafat sent a letter to Prime Minister Rabin, in which he stated unequivocally that the PLO: recognizes the right of Israel to exist in peace and security; accepts UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338; commits itself to a peaceful resolution of the conflict; assumes responsibility over all PLO elements to ensure their compliance, prevent violations, and discipline violators; and undertakes to submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval the necessary changes to the Covenant. In reply, Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians in the peace negotiations.

A massive terrorist attack against Israeli civilians 19 months ago brought the peace process to an utter standstill - until last month+s Wye Agreements ("Wake" 47).

. . .
ian homes have been demolished in the West Bank and 14 in East Jerusalem, resulting in the displacement of over 440 Palestinians. As at August, some 1,800 Palestinian homes were reportedly targeted for demolition and were being destroyed at the rate of about one a day (Deguene 4). This could easily spell the death of yet another round of peace negotiations. The presence of settlements further exacerbates an already tense situation because of the provocative actions of extremist and armed settler groups. The Temporary International Presence in Hebron, the international observer force set up in 1994, had expressed concern at the aggressive behavior of settlers in the city and their increased verbal and physical attacks against Palestinians and their property. On 11 June, the Israeli army authorized the creation of civil defense militias operating along side Israeli police and security forces inside settlements in the West Bank. Conversely, Hamas is well represented in these areas as well. Israeli settlements in the West Bank provide an ideal target for continued terrorist attacks (Heller 9). Another issue of great concern to the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of Palestinians is the continued imprisonment of a large
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Approximate Word count = 2352
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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