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U.S. GOVERNMENT: The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

On Wednesday, April 30th, the United States presented the leaders of Israel and Palestine with a plan that it believes will bring peace to their nations. This plan, called “the road map”, was made in December by the United States, Russia, The United Nations, and the European Union. The plan describes a three year long process that would happen, if Israel and Palestine agree to it, over a period of three years.

During the first phase of the plan, which the United States believes would take six months, Palestine and Israel would have to make visible efforts to stop fighting. This means that Palestine would have to begin ending attacks against Israel, and Israel would have to begin moving its military out of land that it has been occupying.

In the second phase of the plan, which is also expected to take six months, a Palestinian state would be created. Right now, Palestine is a nation of people, but they do not have a country of their own, although they believe that part of the land that is now considered Israel rightfully belongs to them. Under the new plan, the second phase would create a land state for Palestine.

Finally, the third phase of the plan allows two years for Israel and Palestine to resolve all remaining disagreements. The problem is that although both sides want peace, neither side can agree on how to start making these changes. Israel says that it will not stop attacking Palestine until Palestine’s terrorist groups disband. Palestine says that it is committed to working for peace, but only if both groups start taking action at the same time.

Unfortunately, neither Palestine, nor Israel, are hopeful that this plan will work. Only hours after the plan was announced, for example, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and three Israelis at a jazz club. Then, a few hours after that, Israeli tanks and helicopters attacked a Palestinian stronghold. In the past, peace plans have always been met with waves of more violence, instead of less violence.

--Written by Angela Schutte

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