Middle East Peace Process

            The Middle East has long been home to a very deep-rooted conflict. The struggle for the control of Jerusalem between the Jews, Christians and Muslims has been going on for hundreds of years. After World War II with the establishment of Israel, the conflict grew even stronger. Israel is trying very hard to learn to get along with its Arab neighbors. One of the ways it has been attempting to reach this goal is the signings of peace agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO]. Israel has been in conflict with the surrounding Arab countries over issues such as land, water and the future of millions of refugees (British Broadcasting Corporation). Right now, it seems as if the peace process has stopped being effective, and has instead turned damaging to the stability of the Middle East (BBC).
             ?No issue in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is more emotional than Jerusalem? (Cable News Network). The big reason is because Judaism's holiest site and Islam's third-holiest site are located within the city (CNN). The west half of the city was under Jordanian control until the 1967 war, when it resulted in the city becoming a whole after Israel drove Jordan out of the West Bank (CNN). The Palestinians have always related to Jerusalem as the capital of their future state (CNN). They want to restore the divide between Israeli and Arab sections, giving religious rights to all (CNN). Israel says that Jerusalem is its eternal and blessed capital and that the whole city will remain under Israeli control (CNN). Palestinians insisted on full Palestinian sovereignty over everything but the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall. Israeli insisted that the nature of sovereignty over the Temple Mount had to be made in such a way as to recognize the Jewish religious claim, alongside that of the Muslim world (Alpher). The holy sites in Jerusalem will remain an issue that could cause great aggression threatening to destroy all that has been achieved to keep peace between Israelis and Palestinians (Palestinian National Authority).