Israel P.L.O. Peace Treaty
The Middle East has always been known as the Holy Land, the land of the Bible. For centuries, prophets have walked there, nations have collided and conquerors have come and gone. While Jews claim a three thousand-year-old attachment to this ancient land, Arabs also stake their devotion. In 1993, these two peoples, involved in a tragic conflict that has lasted more than half a century, saw the possibility of a new beginning. It was called the Oslo Accord, and it transformed the political realities of the Middle East (Peres, p.2) However, there have been many turbulent events that have followed the signing of the Accord, events that have undermined the agreement and are threatening to drive Israelis and Arabs apart once again. Since the founding of Israel in 1948, there has been continuous conflict between Israel and the Arab states. This conflict has been marked by six bloody wars. In 1867, during the six-day war of Syria, Jordan and Egypt, Israel captured the West Bank, Sinai and the Gaza strip. Subsequently, a population of over a million Palestinian Arabs, together with their land was now under Israeli control. (Spencer, p.70) It was during this time that a Palestinian leader emerged, Yasser Arafat
In Israel, the minority opposing the accord includes the ultra-nationalists and the religious right wing. Confronting him was the new leader of the right-wing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu. In the week between February 25 and March 3, 1996, three Israeli buses and a busy industrial centre were blown up by suicide bombers. "Israel Mourns Bombing Victims". The negotiations that had started in such secrecy were now confirmed before the world. Instead of moving towards peace, it seemed as if they were moving towards disaster. 40-45) Over a hundred new countries expressing their willingness to establish diplomatic ties with Israel followed the post-Oslo response of the Arab world to Israel, and foreign investments soared. In October 1994, nearly a year after the meeting of Rabin and Arafat, Israel and Jordan officially ended more than fifty years of conflict. Hamas claimed responsibility for all these attacks. His death sparked rage and fury throughout the West Bank, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad promised revenge and violent retribution. Rabin had been murdered in an attempt to halt the peace process, however initially the effect was just the reverse.
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