The Middle East Peace Process

5570 Words12 Pages

'For too long, the citizens of the Middle East have lived in the midst of death and fear. The hatred of a few holds the hopes of many hostage. The forces of extremism and terror are attempting to kill progress and peace by killing the innocent. And this casts a dark shadow over an entire region,' President George W. Bush in his June 24, 2002 address to the nation.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is just one of the many facets that have shaped modern day politics in the Middle East. It is a conflict rooted in generations of violence, discrimination and prejudice that is complicated by a history older than any of the modern day superpowers. Ever since the creation of the state of Israel by the 1947 UN partition of Palestine the region has suffered invasions, occupations, and wars. There have been many efforts by both the United States and the greater international community to bring a viable solution about that will bring peace to the region, however any hope of obtaining a viable solution seems to have evaporated in the past five years. The implementation of the second Palestinian Infitatda and the failure of negations between Arafat and Barak have all but erased the optimism generated by the 1990's. A stalemate of sorts seems to have been created in the midst of the failed negations, further destroying the hope for the creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian state. However, in the past few weeks, recent developments in the region have seemingly given the peace process a renewed opportunity for peace. The death of Yassar Arafat not only brings an end to an era for the Palestinian people, but it also brings about the comings of a new era in politics, a chance for change, new leadership, and hopefully the c...

... middle of paper ...

...com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/10/arafat.obit/index.html

Reich, Bernard. ?The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship.? The Middle East and the United States, 2nd Ed

Rynhold, Jonathan. ?The View from Jerusalem: Israeli-American relations and the Peace Process.? Middle East Review of International Affairs. Vol. 4 No. 2. June 2000.

Said, Edward W. ?Archaeology of the Road Map? From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map. Pantheon Books, 2004.

Satloff, Robert. ?The Road Not to be Taken: Assessing the Quartet Roadmap for Israeli Palestinian Peacemaking.? The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, October 23, 2002.

Talbot, Brent. Israel?, October 7, 2004, University of Denver Graduate School of International Studies

Weisman, Steven R. ?Israel Takes Quiet Steps to Bolster Palestinians.? The New York Times. Sunday, November 14, 2004

Open Document