Israelis feel that they have come to an impasse. They have not felt safe in their own country for decades, and yet, they see no end to the fighting. They do not see a peace in sight. While Israelis would like to believe that with the help of the United States, an agreement will be reached, very few would actually admit that they see it as a viable solution to their seemingly never-ending struggles. In an article about the need for a new sort of peace movement, David Newman, the chair of the department of politics and government at Ben Gurion University in Israel, expresses his opinion that

Abu-Zayyad states in his article that 92 percent of the land in the State of Israel is closed to non-Jews. He expresses the opinion that Palestinians feel that they are living under a “racist regime whose aim is to uproot them from their land and to replace them with Jews.” Abu-Zayyad makes an appeal for the Israelis to realize that there are others who live in the land who should be granted the same rights. In regards to Palestinian terrorism, he states “only a shock can bring people to their senses.” Yet, he gives no solution to the problem that indicates any compromise, leaving the question: what shall the Israelis do once they are shocked?

The Palestinian population has very different opinions of the concept of peace, and should not be expected to think that the Israeli government, which has treated them so unfairly in the past, would allow them to live, at the least, in physical freedom. While Newman’s suggestion might seem nice to some, one should not expect the Palestinians, who have been fighting for their right to have their own homeland for fifty years, to give up that idea. The possession of land is what concerns the Palestinians when they discuss a possible peace. They feel, and this is emphasized in Ziad Abu-Zayyad’s article, that land is the heart of the conflict.

Newman makes an interesting observation about the youth of Israel. It is clear to him that these college-aged members of the community are not concerned with the need for peace. He comments on the fact that most organizations in Israel that are concerned with the peace process are in the fifty plus age group. Newman sees the involvement of this new age group as necessary to the process simply because the peace is for them. These senior organizations will eventually come to the realization that they are no longer fighting for themselves, but for the future. Without the participation of the younger generation, there is no hope for peace.

The United States is certain that the violence must stop, and have given broad suggestions of what can be done. In the hearing, Walker states, “normal economic life must be rest

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