Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Rock Bottom?

Fourteen months after the start of this round of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians, more than two months after the terror attack on the US, it appears as though the last decade’s search for a Middle East peace, ushered in by the Madrid Conference in 1991 and the Oslo accords of 1994, has been futile. But is there really no hope for settlement? The present round of violence and bloodshed, cruel and unnecessary though it may be, has created the conditions for a higher level of understanding between the parties.

The World Today
4 minute READ

Viewed from London or Karachi, the conflict in the Middle East seems as intractable as ever. Since the failure of last year’s Camp David talks between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat, Israelis and Palestinians have been drawn into a new cycle of violence that seems to plummet endlessly.

Despair and indifference have embraced even the most ardent supporters of the peace process in both camps. As President Bill Clinton’s proposals were rejected, the American administration distanced itself from the parties, and until recently was not interested in a renewed effort to solve the problems.

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