straints of the Soviets and bursting with military power, invaded Kuwait in August, 1990. The United States and the West, without fear of Russian intervention, routed the Iraqis and restored Kuwait. But the Americans did not oust the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. Instead, they surrounded him with no-fly zones, continued economic sanctions, and forced a promise to allow United Nations inspectors to destroy his weapons of mass destruction.
To secure Arab support for the Gulf War, the United States promised to push for talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. No need to push the Palestine Liberation Organizationùthey had no choice. Its support for Iraq in the Gulf War had prompted an angry Saudi Arabia to cut off funds. The Soviet aid had stopped, too, while Hamas, an Islamic group, threatened ArafatÆs authority. Those factors helped bring Arafat to the table, and in 1993 he signed the Oslo peace accords with the Israelis (Aruri, 1998).
Today, however, those accords are in danger. A conservative government has been installed in Israel, prompted in part by relentless Hamas bomb attacks. The Palestinians enjoy limited self-rule in Gaza and parts of the West Bank, but the Israelis are reluctant to give up any more territory. Settlements continue to be erected, and Israeli relations with its Arab neighbors are strained at best. The Palestinian economy suffers from huge unemployment, and in many places, Hamas provides more government services than Araf
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