Time to add fuel to the fire with my paper! (I apologize for the formating, but I don't feel like going through and correcting everything to match what it is in the text file)
The Leibowitz family had just left the bar mitzvah party of one of their cousins in Jerusalem on June 17, 2003. Seven-year-old Noam, loved by staff and students alike at school, missed her 2nd grade graduation for the party. On that fateful June night, as the Leibowitzes car sped down the Trans-Israel Highway, six gunshots were fired through its windshield by a member of the Islamic Jihad, fatally wounding Noam. She died almost instantly (Palestinian terrorist...). Meanwhile, Israeli tanks marched into Palestinian-occupied areas of the West Bank and tore down settlements. This brutality is what the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has degraded to. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has done far too much damage. In order to end this conflict, the international community must intervene and help mediate the peace process. Israel and the Palestinian Authority must cooperatively devise a solution while also attacking the extremists on both sides who are unwilling to compromise. Above all else, Israel and the Palestinian Authority must let neither increased tensions nor terrorism deter them from their course towards peace.
In order to understand the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, one must
first learn about the past relations between these two peoples. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the land of Palestine, which is modern-day Israel, a colony of the Ottoman Empire, consisted of a diverse population numbering between three hundred and four hundred thousand people, the majority of which were followers of Islam (Peters and Katz). A 1920 historical study conducted by Britain cites that, contrary to what they had believed, the majority of Palestinians were not Arabs, but merely Arabic-speaking. The Palestinians were, in fact, of mixed race (Welcome to...).
But this ethnically diverse and relatively peaceful territory was about to be shaken up by an influx of Arabs and Jews. During the 1890s, Muslim Arabs and Jews began migrating to Palestine to reclaim their holy land (Brief History...; Arab-Israeli Conflict). As a result of these religious movements, Palestines population doubled to over seven hundred thousand people by 1914 (Peters and Katz). Arabs and Jews continued to migrate to Palestine after it was colonized by Britain following World War I all the way through World War II. Over this period of time, the Arab immigrants became associated with the natural Palestinian ethnicity, due to the common religion of Islam shared between the two. The majority of Palestinians today are actually Arabs whose ancestors migrated to Palestine during the early 20th century. These Arabs found themselves competing with the Jewish immigrants.
After World War I, Britain decided to thank the Muslim and Jewish world for helping the Allies defeat the Ottoman Empire. In the 1920s, Britain, through the Hussein-McMahon correspondence, promised the formation of a new Arab-Palestinian state in Palestine. A few years later, Britain promised a Jewish state in the land of Palestine in the Balfour Declaration (Learn About...). Reacting to these two conflicting statements by Britain, Arab and Jewish inhabitants of Palestine fought with each other over land for the next twenty years. In 1929, a group of Arab settlers invaded the Jewish city of Hebron, killing dozens, and forcing survivors to evacuate (Learn About...). Skirmishes between the Palestinians and Jews were common in Jerusalem, particularly near the Western Wall. Violence continued through the Second World War.
After World War II ended, Britain decided to deliver on its promise to establish Palestinian and Jewish states. The entire globe was in shock from the actions of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, and was, for the most part, sympathetic towards the establishment of a Jewish nation. Therefore, on November 29th, 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181, which called for the partition of the colony of Palestine into the nation of Israel and the nation of Palestine (The Arab...). The nation of Palestine was to consist of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, as well as a portion of land directly adjacent and south of the Golan Heights, a mountain range in Syria. Jerusalem was to be a neutral zone shared by Israel and Palestine, serving as a capital for both nations. Jews accepted the United Nations plan, while the Arab world rejected it and prepared for war, as they did not want the Jews to have any of Palestine. Both the Jewish and Arab immigrants were rather extreme in their desires to control all of Palestine, but the Jews were willing to accept any part of Palestine in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Between April and December of 1948, over seven hundred thousand Palestinians abandoned their homes in Israel, despite repeated promises from David Ben-Gurion, who was set to become the first Israeli Prime Minister, that they would not be harmed (The Arab...). After the Palestinians retreated to the surrounding Arab nations, the Arab armies thought that they could easily pass through and crush the Israeli forces. A holy war was on the horizon.
On May 14th, 1948, the nation of Israel declared its independence. Less than twenty-four hours later, Palestinian insurgents and the nations of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt invaded Israel (Basic Facts...). During the war, Egypt took over the Gaza Strip, and Syria, the Palestinian land directly south of the Golan Heights, to use both as fronts for their troops invading Israel. In addition, Jordan took over the West Bank. Syria was also attempting to cut Israel off from Lake Kinneret, Israels sole water source. Israel took over the Syrian occupied land, driving Syrian forces back towards the Golan Heights, while also defeating the forces of the other five Arab nations that were invading Israel (Learn About...). In 1949, Israel signed armistice agreements with its enemies in a stunning victory (Basic Facts...). Now, the land that was to be the new Palestine, according to the U.N.s partition plan, was under the occupation of Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. The seven hundred thousand Palestinian refugees who had fled Israel during 1947 and 1948 had nowhere to return to after the war. They were not welcomed in any of the Arab countries, except Jordan, which changed its name from Trans-Jordan, following the capture of the West Bank. Jordan was the only country which admitted the Palestinian refugees as citizens. Most of these Palestinian refugees settled in camps inside of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These areas became Palestinian communities, but they were generally plagued with substandard housing, poor education, and no health benefits. Psychological and physical health remained below average in Palestinian communities for decades; only recently have conditions begun to improve. Despite the majority of Palestine being captured by the Arab nations in the War of 1948, and the choice of the Palestinian refugees to abandon their homes in Israel in 1948, the Palestinians, requiring a scapegoat for the misfortune of their lives, channeled their anger towards those whom they had competed with for the land of Palestine during the entire first half of the 20th century: The Jews of Israel (The Arab...).
The Palestinians became increasingly angry with Israel throughout the 1950s and expressed this anger passionately. Already frustrated by the failure of the Arab coalition to destroy Israel, the Palestinians became increasingly hostile following the passing the Absentee Property Law in Israel. This law gave Israel permission to confiscate the property of the Palestinian refugees who had fled Israel in 1948 and who had chosen to not return (Learn About...). Several Palestinians resorted to terrorism as a way to express their frustrations. From 1949 to 1956, over 1300 Israeli civilians were killed in these attacks (The Arab...). Yasser Arafat emerged as a power in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict when he started up Fatah, a terrorist faction devoted to the destruction of the Jews and the liberation of Palestine, in 1959 (Basic Facts...).
The misfortune of the Palestinians is not the only reason for Palestinian violence towards Israel. Israeli aggression during the Suez War and the 6-Day War also contributed to the conflict. When Egypt prevented Israeli traders from crossing the Suez Canal in 1956, Israel initiated a war against Egypt. The Israeli military took over the Sinai Peninsula, crossed into Egypt, and surrounded Cairo itself. Israel retreated and returned the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for the end of Egypts blockade on Israels ships at the request of the United Nations (Learn About...). A decade later, in early 1967, all six countries of the Arab coalition from Israels first war in 1948 began building up their military forces in preparation for an invasion of Israel on June 6th. However, Israeli spies learned of the coalitions plans, and on the night of June 5th, 1967, Israel launched a full-scale aerial assault on Egypt, whose forces made up more than half of the entire Arab coalition. Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia pulled their troops back, and Israel easily defeated Jordan and Syria, along with the crippled Egyptian army, in six days. In addition to defeating its enemies, Israel also captured the entire Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip (Arab-Israeli Conflict). Palestinians who inhabited the Gaza Strip and the West Bank now found themselves under the occupation of their enemy. From their perspective, the Suez War and the Six-Day War were two wars in which Israel fired the first shot and over-aggressively fought its enemies, instituting a sense of fear in the Palestinians.
The Arab world further backed the Palestinian Liberation Organization following these wars. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded during the 1964 Arab summit in Cairo. The PLO serves as an umbrella organization for six Palestinian groups, the largest of which is Yasser Arafats Fatah, and quickly became the official political representation of the Palestinian people (Basic Facts...). Yasser Arafat was elected the chairman of the PLO in 1969. Following Yasser Arafats election, the PLO relocated to Lebanon. After it relocated, the PLO embarked on a series of terrorist attacks on the Israelis, including the infamous slaying of eleven members of Israels team at the 1972 Munich Olympics (International Olympic...).
Some progress was made towards peace between the PLO and Israel with the signing of a cease-fire in 1981. However, the PLO continued to attack Israel with terrorism. On May 9, 1982, one hundred Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into Israel. A month later, the PLO severely wounded Israels Ambassador to the United Kingdom (The Arab...). Israel responded to these attacks by invading Lebanon in order to destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization. By July, Israel had laid siege to Beirut and forced the PLO to withdraw from Lebanon and relocate in Tunisia. Israel occupied Beirut until the end of 1983. Three years later, in 1985, Israel bombed the PLOs headquarters in Tunisia, forcing the PLO to scatter across nine Arab nations.
Israel, unfortunately, did not consider how people would react to its attacks on the PLO. After Israel occupied Beirut and bombed the PLOs headquarters, the Palestinians located inside of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip became afraid that Israels next target would be them. This fear exploded when four Palestinians were killed in a car accident with an Israeli on December 8, 1987. Hundreds of Palestinians turned on Israeli troops stationed in the Gaza Strips largest refugee camp of Jabalya, and demonstrations and riots spread like wildfire throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (The Arab...). The Intifada, which lasted for the next two years, became more and more violent over that period of time. Palestinians began protesting by throwing rocks, but soon started using Molotov bottles, then hand grenades, plastique explosives, and guns. Responding to these protests, Israel attempted to use its military force against the Palestinians by opening fire on the protesters and surrounding the Palestinian compounds with tanks. Israel even went so far as to use its bulldozers to demolish several Palestinian settlements. However, the Israeli Defense Force, trained to fight against foreign armies, had no effective answer to civil resistance in which all of its tanks and warplanes lost all significance against a scattered uprising with rocks and handguns.
The first Intifada brought the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the forefront of international attention. In 1988, the United States opened discussions with the PLO, and the United Nations convinced Yasser Arafat to formally recognize Israels right to exist by having Arafat accept UN Resolution 242, which had been passed following the 6-Day War as an outline for establishing peace in the Middle East. The withdrawal of Jordan from the West Bank gave the Palestinians slightly more power in the international world. Furthermore, the fall of the Soviet Union gave the United States the power to mediate the peace process in the Middle East. President George Bush in 1991 promised Arab leaders that, should they join the U.S. led coalition against Iraq, Washington would later turn its attention to sorting out the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Following the Gulf War, a peace conference was held in Madrid on October 30, 1991. The Madrid Peace Conference established plans to address the issues of water, arms control, environment, refugees, and economic development in the Middle East, in addition to the establishment of peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians (The Arab...). Neither side of the conflict made the first step to implement these plans because they still were weary of each other following the first Intifada. However, the Madrid Peace Conference paved way for the Oslo Accords of Yitzhak Rabins administration.
Yitzhak Rabins administration made more progress in peace talks with the Palestinians than any other Prime Minister in Israels history. Rabin, who had been the Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff during the Six-Day War, was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1992 (Learn About...). His administration immediately began conducting a series of confidential peace talks with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. On August 19, 1993 the Oslo Accords were initialized. The Declaration of Principles, the document which described the process for peace in the Oslo Accords, created a framework for areas of negotiation, and set outlines for a rapid hand-over of Gaza and Jericho to Palestinian self-rule. They also declared that, immediately following the implementation of the Gaza-Jericho agreement, responsibilities in education and culture, health, welfare, taxation, and tourism in these areas would be handled by the Palestinian government. A formal agreement on the Oslo Accords was signed by Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the White Houses garden on September 13, 1993 (The Arab...).
Two years later, the Oslo II Accords were signed on September 28, 1995 (The Arab...). The Interim Agreement, one of the two provisions of the Oslo II Accords, declared that elections would take place in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a new Palestinian Authority. It also detailed the self-government arrangements in these areas. This self-governing body would be headed by Yasser Arafat, who was elected Chairman of the Palestinian Authority in January of 1996. Furthermore, the Interim Agreement stated that Israel would pull out its forces from Palestinian populated areas and allow a Palestinian police force, under the Palestinian Authority, maintain public order. The second part of the Oslo II Accords stated that, no later than May, 1996, talks would commence concerning all remaining issues between Palestine and Israel, including: refugees, borders, Jerusalem, security, settlements, and relations. According to the Oslo II Accords, these were to be implemented by no later than May 1999 (Basic Facts...).
The Oslo Accords never succeeded because of several reasons. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli extremist in November 1995 delayed the process of implementing the Oslo Accords. In addition, the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and other terrorist groups continued to suicide bomb Israel. Yasser Arafat made no effort to discourage the Palestinian people from participating in these acts of violence, and also refused to hand known terrorists over to Israeli authorities. The Palestinian Authority also refused to remove a section in its charter which called for the destruction of Israel. Also, Israel moved its tanks to the borders of the West Bank and Gaza Strip at several tense moments of conflict, and did not enforce the free passage routes, which were transportation zones for Palestinians crossing between the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Learn About...).
Despite the failure of the Oslo Accords, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1996, continued negotiations with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. In 1998, Israel and the PA passed the Wye Agreement, which stated that Israel would relinquish 13 percent of its Har Homa settlement in Jerusalem and give it to the Palestinians. In exchange, Arafat promised to take preventative measures against terrorist attacks on Israel, to arrest and punish all those involved in terrorist activity, and to collect all illegal weapons from the Palestinians. However, Arafat never followed up on his commitments. Arafat did not make any efforts to collect illegal weapons from the Palestinian people, nor did he crack down on known terrorists. In fact, he started acting on his own without communicating with the Israeli government, going so far as to unilaterally declare his intentions to create an independent Palestinian State later that year. In response to Arafats actions, Israel halted the transfer of land which it had promised Arafat in the Wye Agreement (Welcome to...). Arafats actions following the Wye Agreement effectively killed any trust and support the Israelis held towards him. His reputation as the original terrorist followed him until his death.
Despite repeated failures in peace talks, Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak, who was elected Israels Prime Minister in 1999, met at Camp David with President Bill Clinton in July, 2000, for the Camp David II Peace Summit. Barak offered Arafat ninety-one percent of the West Bank and half of Jerusalem to the Palestinians, which would become the new independent nation of Palestine, but Yasser Arafat turned down Baraks offer. Arafat demanded that all of Jerusalem be given to Palestine, and that every single Palestinian refugee was unconditionally granted the right to return to his or her home in Israel, and that the Israeli government would provide compensation for all four million Palestinian refugees (Arab-Israeli Conflict). Needless to say, Camp David II ended in failure.
After the failures of the Oslo Accords, the Wye Agreement, and Camp David II, the Palestinians had lost all confidence that they would ever get their own nation. On September 28th, 2000, Israeli Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the site of the Old Temple, the holiest place in Judaism. Within a mile of the Temple Mount is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holiest place in Islam. Though no Israeli came near the Al-Aqsa mosque, the failures of three consecutive peace talks and a crumbling Palestinian economy drove the Palestinians to riot in Jerusalem. They threw rocks and shouted at the IDF, and, once again, the violence spread throughout Israel (Brief History...). The Second Intifada, which is still going on in Israel today, had begun.
The Second Intifada has proven to be longer and much more violent than the First Intifada. On October 7, 2000, a Palestinian mob demolished Josephs Tomb, a Jewish holy site in the West Bank. Then, on October 12, two Israeli reservists who mistakenly wandered into the Palestinian city of Ramallah were lynched live on television. The violence continued to flare, and included a revival of suicide bombings on buses, in restaurants, shopping malls, and even schools. Members of the Tanzim, Yasser Arafats personal militia, have participated in several attacks using firebombs, automatic weapons, and grenades. The sight of children with rocks against Israeli tanks is a popular image of the Second Intifada, even though it ignores the Palestinians armed with explosives and automatic weapons behind the children (The Arab...). Since September of 2000, eighteen thousand Palestinian and Israeli civilians have been injured in this conflict, and over fifteen hundred Israelis and Palestinians have died, thirteen hundred of them being civilian casualties. Now, Israel has forcefully reoccupied nearly all Palestinian areas which were evacuated as a part of the Oslo Peace Process (Learn About...). In addition, Israel has begun construction of a wall to be used as a border between Israel and the future Palestine. However, this wall is being built on Palestinian territory; about seven percent of the Palestinian Authoritys land will end up being on Israels side of the wall, along with fifteen thousand Palestinians (Israel frees...).
Despite the violence of the Second Intifada, there are reasons to be hopeful for the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. First of all, Yasser Arafats death in November, 2004, and the election of Mahmoud Abbas as his successor as President of the Palestinian Authority, is great for the peace process. Arafat was extremely popular with the Palestinians, but he had repeatedly shown that he is untrustworthy and unwilling to compromise for peace. Since Abbas became President of the PA, Israel and the PA have signed a cease-fire, and the Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors to Israel have returned to Israel (Palestinian, Israeli...). On February 20th, Israels Cabinet approved the withdrawal of all Israelis from Gaza and the West Bank, to be completed by July 20th (Israeli Cabinet...; Israel frees...). In addition, Israel freed five hundred Palestinian prisoners as a good-will gesture on February 21st, and plans to release four hundred more prisoners over the next three months (Israel frees...). There are plenty of issues which are yet to be resolved, but Israel and the Palestinian Authority seem to be making progress.
In order for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to end, several criteria must be met. First, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government must bilaterally discuss all courses of action. Second, efforts must be made to destroy the militant groups in the area. Third, Israeli and Palestinian extremists must both be discredited. Fourth, the development of a Palestinian state must be aided by several countries. This Palestinian state, however, should not take away from Israels right to exist. Finally, the Israelis and the Palestinians must be persistent in their peace talks.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority must cooperate with each other if the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to be resolved. They must continue the peace talks that they were participating in during the month of February. Israel absolutely needs to halt construction of The Wall immediately. They cannot act unilaterally on a topic as important as the establishment of borders between Palestine and Israel, because it is, arguably, the most important aspect of the conflict. If necessary, these bilateral discussions can be mediated by other countries. Perhaps Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas could meet for the Oslo Accords III or Camp David III.
In addition to bilaterally discussing all aspects of the conflict, Israel and the Palestinian Authority must attack the Arab militant groups. The repeated suicide bombings on Israel following the Oslo Accords did nothing but increase tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis and move Israels military to action, often alienating the Palestinian public in the process. Furthermore, these militant groups do not want peace. One needs to only look at Hamas reaction to the recent cease-fire signed by Abbas and Sharon, which stated that it did not share the same stance as Abbas did on the issue. Hamas reiterated the fact that it is a group whose goal is the destruction of Israel (Palestinian, Israeli...). An ideal solution to this problem would be a co-operative military effort by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and certain members of the Arab League to directly attack the headquarters and training centers of these factions. Jordan and Egypt would be two viable candidates as allies for this operation, as they are each allied with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
After destroying the military segments of these militant groups, an effort must be made to discredit their fanatical opinions. More often than not, the extremists opinions are the source of the conflict. These extremists are the Israeli settlers and the Palestinian militants. The settlers are those Jews who believe that they can do whatever they want to take over the region and claim it as theirs. They have little tolerance for Gentiles, and want to see the expansion of Israel back to and beyond its biblical borders. Many of the settlers have influence in the Knesset, Israels legislative body, and its. They often preach hatred towards Palestinians in the Knesset and encourage the soldiers to treat Palestinians badly. The settlers who believe that they can do whatever they want twist Judaism into something it isn't, and try to use it to justify their actions. Some Jews hold the same opinions as the settlers, but they believe that the land will eventually be delivered to them by God. In other words, they believe it is right for Judaism to spread throughout the world, and that it will happen, but that this spread will occur naturally, not by force, as the settlers resort to. Palestinian militants, like the Israeli settlers, claim that they have sole right to the land. Most of the militants hate the Jews and would rather have them all cleansed out of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian people are often controlled by the militant groups like Hamas, which show a face that Palestinians appreciate, by offering Palestinians financial aid and hospitals. By appealing to the Palestinian public, Hamas and other militant groups have a growing influence in politics, and often incite hatred towards Israelis, using even television to influence youth. Like the Jewish settlers who use Judaism to justify forceful expansion, the Palestinian militants twist Islam into justifying attacks on Israelis, and twist the idea of justice that exists in both Judaism and Islam into cold blooded revenge.
So how does one go about discrediting the opinions of these extremists? Most of these extremists see themselves as so righteous that only religious texts can change their thoughts. Rational arguments have not convinced Hamas to end its attacks on Israel, nor did they convince Yitzhaks Rabin murderer that he was wrong to have killed Rabin. Therefore, it is necessary to sit these extremists down in front of religious experts, and have them educated on what their holy texts really say. The country of Yemen has done this exactly, with astounding results. In 2003, after capturing one hundred Al Qaeda operatives, Yemens president appointed an Islamic cleric, Judge Humoud Hattar, to go into the prisons and reason with the men, using his profound knowledge of Islam and considerable powers of persuasion. After months of considerable debate, Hattar and psychologists determined that the Al Qaeda operatives had seen the error of their ways and were repentant for what they had done. They were thus released from jail. Now, this process is an essential part of Yemens anti-terrorist operations, and these religious campaigns have enabled the government to dismantle over 90% of Al Qaedas network in Yemen (Yemen Deploys...). If these same processes are applied to the Israeli and Palestinian extremists, progress will surely be made in the efforts for peace.
The assisted development of a Palestinian state would help solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Palestinians have desired their own country since the late 1800s, and not having a country has been the primary source of frustration for them. Its even the source of frustration that led to the Second Intifada which is currently happening. To be honest, their property was taken away from them by Israel when it passed the Absentee Property Law. A Palestinian state should be made which consists of the majority of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem being a neutral zone shared by Israel and Palestine. The Palestinian Authority itself is already a rather efficient governing body of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were granted autonomy by Israel after the Oslo Accords, and could serve as the government for Palestine. Israel and the Arab League should probably provide financial aid and loans to Palestine to help develop its economy. Perhaps Israel could make several donations to Palestine as good-will gestures. In order to give Palestine more resources and better passageways between Gaza and the West Bank, Egypt might want to consider donating parts of the Sinai Peninsula to Palestine, and Israel to donate a stretch of land on its southern end. These outlines for a Palestinian state would help the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The most important part of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is to be persistent. The cease-fire which was recently signed by Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas is in considerable danger, because, according to Sharon, Israel will cease military operations in Palestinian locations in return for the halting of Palestinian violence against Israelis. A cease-fire based on an ideology such as this is susceptible to break down in failure by a few extreme acts of violence. Either the Palestinian Authority or Israel must show that it will remain committed to peace, even if the other side does not appear to hold up its end of the bargain. If attacks continued on Israel, but Israel did not react aggressively by occupying Palestinian territories, the Palestinians would have no reason to attack, because Israel would not be hostile towards them. This worked for Martin Luther King Jr., and it can work for the Israeli and Palestinians, as well. By leading by example, either the Palestinian Authority or the Israeli government can move the peace process forward. This lack of persistence is why the Oslo Accords, the Wye Agreement, and Camp David II all failed; both sides backed out of the agreements at the slightest hint of noncompliance by the other party. If Palestinians and Israelis do not let tensions interfere with the peace process, and if they are persistent in their efforts, they will eventually come to an understanding.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, though containing a complex and deep-seeded history, can be solved by cooperation, compromise, and an effort to remove the militant groups and violent extremists from powerful political and social positions. The Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government can work together with their allies to not only negotiate peace, but to weaken the power of those who do not want peace. In this struggle between the Palestinians and the Israelis, Noam Leibowitzs death is only one of thousands. Noams little sister, Shira, is only one of several people who looked up to Noam. After Noam was buried in the Moshav Nir Etzion cemetery in Israel, her mother, Galit Leibowitz, said, Noam always took care of Shira. Now who will take care of Noam? If the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government do not work together to resolve this conflict, then the Palestinians and Israelis will eventually take care of each other. Israel and the Palestinian Authority must continue to negotiate and do whatever they can do to bring peace to the Middle East to help improve the lives of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
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