Abstract
Examines prospects for peace in the Middle East following the successes of the Oslo Accords and the Israel-Jordan peace treaty.
Description
Since its creation in 1948, Israel and its neighbors have been in a near constant state of war. Yet after seven wars and countless dead-end peace negotiations, the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 made it seem that peace in the region might finally be at hand. In a deal secretly brokered between the PLO and the Israeli government, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to grant Palestinians self-rule in the Gaza Strip, Jericho, and the occupied West Bank. In 1994, the region enjoyed another diplomatic success when King Hussein of Jordan agreed to make peace with Israel, ending a protracted state of war. Despite these dramatic steps towards peace, however, Israel had yet to reach an agreement on the status of Palestinian refugees, resolve the dispute between Israel settlers and Palestinians in the occupied territories, or sign peace accords with neighboring Lebanon and Syria. Where does the peace process stand in the Middle East, and what can be done to build on the momentum of the Oslo Accords? In this episode host Peter Krogh is joined by Samuel Lewis, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, and Dennis Ross, special coordinator for U.S. Middle East policy under President Clinton, to discuss Middle East peace solutions and America's role in peace negotiations.
LOCATION
Middle East; Israel; Palestine;
