The reader's guide to peace talks
US President Barack Obama's Mideast vision uses basic terms which are part of the negotiation's lingo. Ynet offers a quick guide to the glossary
US President Barack Obama's Mideast policy speech and AIPAC address, which outlined the United State's vision for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, included a variety of terms often used in regards to the negotiations. Ynet offers readers a concise glossary of terms:
The Road Map: The "Road Map" for peace is the name of a comprehensive diplomatic framework devised by the Quartet – the US, EU, Russia and the United Nations – in 2002, with aim of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the form of a two-state solution.
The plan was officially introduced by US President George W. Bush in 2003 and names three stages meant to bring about the end of the conflict: The first – the cessation of all terror activities by the Palestinians, an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities and a freeze on settlement expansion; the second – the inception of a Palestinian state with temporary borders, while simultaneously negotiation final borders and calling an international peace conference; and the third – calling a second international peace conference, signing a final peace agreement and pursuing normalization between Israel and the Arab world.
The Bush Letter: A letter published by President George W. Bush in 2004 which was unofficially used as political quid pro quo for Israel's disengagement from Gaza. In the letter, Bush acknowledges to the fact that Israel will not return to the 1967 borders, and that any future agreement would have to consider demographic changes that occurred in the West Bank since the Six Day War.
The letter also addressed the issue of refugees, and state that the PA would have to resolve the issues within the borders of the new Palestinian state, i.e. – without realizing the right of return.
The 1967 Borders: The 1967 line, or the 1949 armistice line, refers to the Green Line – the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 truce between Israel and its neighbors. The '67 borders are also used to describe the territories Israel captured in the Six-Day War. Following the war, the UN ratified Resolution 242, which called on Israel to withdraw from those territories.
Settlement Blocs: An Israeli phrase which turned into a political coin phrase during the Oslo Accords. Israel created blocs based on geographic – rather then municipal – criteria: The Kedumim bloc, the Ariel bloc, the Modi'in Illit bloc, the Ma'aleh Adumim bloc and Gush Etzion. Some 85% of all Israelis who reside beyond the Green Line reside in these blocs.
Israel stated that any future negotiation and final agreement will demand these areas be annexed and their residents remain under Israeli sovereignty. The Palestinians have agreed in principle to a land swap in this case.
Land Swap: The exchange of land as part of the final Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The Palestinians demand an equal quid pro quo, but Israel has never officially agreed to it.
The Clinton Framework: The Clinton framework came about in 2000, after a failed round of peace talks in Camp David.
US President Bill Clinton proposed that Israel would be able to annex 3% of the West Bank sans any land swap, and another 1%-3% with land swap; that 80% of Israelis living in the area would remain in the annexed territories; the Palestinians would return only to the future Palestinian state, and that Jerusalem would be divided according to its demographics, guaranteeing Israeli control of the Western Wall and Palestinian control over Temple Mount.
The Core Issues: The core issues are the five staple issues at the heart of the negotiations for a final peace agreement: The future of Jerusalem and its holy places, borders, settlements, the Palestinian refugees' right of return and security arrangements.
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
