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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
December 5, 2001

Two men woke up this past Sunday, strapped explosives to their bodies and walked into a crowded market, causing more destruction than Israel has seen in decades.

The men were best friends since childhood, and members of a Palestinian militant Islamic group known as Hamas. Their "suicide" attack in Jerusalem, and another in a northern Israeli city, killed 26 people and injured dozens.

In response, Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on targets related to the Palestinian government, killing at least 2 people.

These attacks are the latest bloody actions in a country where living in fear of the next explosion has become a way of life.

Searching for peace

About 1,000 people have died in the last 14 months of violence, about four-fifths of them Palestinians.

Both the Israelis and the Palestinians are fighting for the right to live on the same land, and neither side tends to be very sympathetic to losses caused to the other.

Israelis and members of the Palestinian organization have come close to peace agreements in the past.

Last month, the United States began a new push to bring Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Sharon to the negotiating table but the effort was stalled by the attacks on Sunday.

However, the peace process is more important now than it has ever been. After the deaths of almost 4,000 Americans on Sept. 11, and the threat of more terrorist attacks, the U.S. is trying to hold together a fragile network of Arab countries to fight terrorism.

Many Palestinians are of Arab decent and neighboring Arab countries accuse the U.S. of siding with Israel and not allowing Palestinians to have their own state.

Several Arab nations agreed to help the U.S. find and punish terrorists with the understanding that the Bush administration would work to end the bloodshed and help negotiate two separate countries for Israelis and Palestinians.

After the attacks

The day after the suicide bombings, Yasser Arafat declared a state of emergency, vowed to arrest terrorist leaders and warned militant groups they could be outlawed.

But the Israeli government was not impressed, and on Monday, Israel launched missiles near Arafat's headquarters. The strikes damaged Arafat's three helicopters parked near his office and tore up the local Gaza airport runway.

The bombs sent hundreds of school children running for cover, and doctors said more than 100 people were injured.

Hours after the attacks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a "war on terror" in an address to the nation and directly accused Arafat of being responsible for the bombings in Israel over the weekend.

"The people who kill us are responsible for their own destruction," he said. "Arafat is responsible for everything that is happening here."

If not Arafat, who?

The weekend bombings put immense pressure on Yasser Arafat. The fact that terrorists killed civilian Israelis makes Arafat look unable to control his own people.

President Bush said it is up to Arafat to stop the violence.

In the past, the U.S. has warned the Israeli government not to attack Palestinians, but this time White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Israel "has the right to defend itself and [President Bush] understands that clearly."

The president "has believed for quite a period of time that Yasser Arafat is capable of doing much more than he has ever done and now the burden is on him even heavier to show it," Fleischer said.

Arafat now has some difficult choices and his decision could change future of the peace process.

He can cooperate with Israel and crack down on Islamic militants, but it would cost him support with the Palestinian community and lead to a possible Palestinian civil war.

Or, he can stand up to President Sharon and risk war with Israel.

Lastly, there are some experts who say Arafat does not have the power to negotiate a lasting peace. As long as violence and conflict are a way of life for Palestinians, there will be more suicide bombers.

Arafat himself says he needs time and an end to Israeli attacks. He says he's determined to break the terror networks in the Palestinian territories, but Israeli military strikes and sieges were making the job impossible.

"They have to cool down to give me the chance," he told ABC News.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath was more direct. "I wonder how [Israel] can ask the Palestinian policemen who are subject to Israeli raids by day to arrest Palestinian militants at night."

So the future of the peace process in Israel depends on many factors, and on many people. How soon an agreement is reached between Arafat and Sharon, if ever, will depend on events and the reaction to those events in the coming weeks.

What do you think? What do you think is the future of peace in Israel? What would you say to Sharon and Arafat if you could talk to them?