MIDEAST
In case you were wondering, here is an explanation of
diplomatic and historical terms that have surfaced at the
Madrid peace talks.
TERRITORY
ON THE
the putting together. Will
act as go-between if called
upon. Has gained the trust of
Arabs and Palestinians.
Supported linking
U.S.-backed loan guarantees
with building of Israeli set-
tlements.
AGENDA
George Bush:
Will preside over opening
of the Mideast Peace Con-
ference. Will also have
summit with Soviet Presi-
dent Mikhail Gorbachev to
discuss arms control and aid.
Mikhail Gorbachev:
Keeping his face in the
international arena. No
longer chief supporter of
Syria, nor does he wield kind
of influence once had in the
Middle East. A co-sponsor of
the talks.
GROUPS
TO WATCH
Hizbollah:
or Party of God. Extreme,
radical fringe, against peace
with Israel. Responsible for
latest terrorist attacks in
Turkey and in Israel.
Shalom Achshav:
Israeli leftists willing to
trade land for peace with
Arab neighbors. Have stag-
West Bank:
YITZHAK SHAMIR, 76,
will personally head the Israeli
delegation. In a move likely to
guarantee a hard-line Israeli
delegation, Mr. Shamir bumped
aside David Levy, his relatively
dovish foreign minister. As
head of Israel's Likud Party, he
refuses to trade land for peace.
ed demonstrations in Tel
Aviv in recent weeks.
Tehiya:
Right-wing Israeli party
led by Yuval Ne'eman.
Withdrew from Knesset
following Mr. Shamir's an-
nouncement to attend the
peace conference.
Gush Emunim:
The band of Jewish set-
tlers living in the West Bank
and Gaza. They aren't likely
to leave their homes without
a fight. ❑
GEORGE BUSH
presided over the
opening of the
Mideast Peace
Conference.
Captured from Jordan in
the 1967, Six-Day War. Area
now home to 850,000 Pales-
tinians and more than 100
Jewish settlements. Israel
will put on the agenda a five-
year-plan for Palestinian
self-rule as well as plans for
economic development.
Gaza Strip:
Captured from Egypt in
Six-Day War. Wedged along
the Mediterranean Coast
between Israel and the nor-
thern Sinai. Two-thirds of its
850,000 Palestinians are
refugees from wars in 1948
and 1967. Their fate was to
be decided by election accor-
ding to terms of the 1979
treaty with Egypt. No elec-
tions ever took place. About
2,500 Jews live along the
coast.
ISRAEL
A land one-
third the size
of Lake
Michigan, it
approaches the
peace table
with one goal:
to reduce the
threat of war.
33.
GAZA STRIP
Almost entirely
Palestinian. It
has always been
administered by
other nations.
32:
Golan Heights:
Captured from Syria in
Six-Day War. Annexed in
1982. 500-square-miles of
rocky, hilly terrain. Popula-
tion includes 10,000 Jewish
settlers, 15,000 Arabs, most-
ly Druse Arabs. Israel fears
a Syrian-dominated Golan
would once again pose a dai-
ly menace to the Galilee's
inhabitants (and a strategic
threat to the country).
31'
Jerusalem:
Israel won the city's
western half in 1948 War of
Independence. Later, Israel
captured and annexed east-
ern half in the Six-Day War.
Israel refuses to negotiate
the fate of Jerusalem. Has
refused to meet with Pales-
tinian delegates from East
Jerusalem. Arabs demand
East Jerusalem become the
capital of an independent
Palestinian state.
Southern Lebanon:
Syria in essence controls
the Lebanese government.
Israel maintains a 24-
square-mile wide security
zone where Israeli and allied
Southern Lebanon Army
troops combat infiltration
attempts into Israel. Israel is
willing to evacuate zone as
soon as satisfactory security
arrangements are met.
GOLAN
HEIGHTS
These hills
overlook all of
northern Israel.
Syria wants
them back.
WEST BANK
Mostly
populated by
Palestinians,
this area is
seeing a
dramatic rise in
Jewish
settlements.
3
s.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
37