Eye for an Eye.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN HATRED BOILS OVER INTO THE WORST CYCLE OF VIOLENCE THE MIDDLE EAST HAS SEEN IN YEARS

In a single shattering day, seven long years of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians were savaged in an orgy of reckless mob violence, high-powered explosives, and helicopter rockets. Like the start of a grim three-act play, the violence began at 11 a.m., October 12, when an enraged Palestinian mob brutally murdered two Israeli soldiers who had strayed into a Palestinian-controlled zone. About an hour later, 1,500 miles to the south, a pair of suicide bombers aboard a small boat blew a 40-foot hole in a U.S. destroyer as it docked in the port of Aden, Yemen, killing 17 American sailors and wounding 35 more. Next, in retaliation for the murdered soldiers, Israel launched rocket attacks at the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, which governs Palestinian territory.

Within days, President Clinton had flown to Egypt for an emergency meeting with Mideast leaders. "The alternative to the peace process," he said, "is now no longer merely hypothetical. It is unfolding today before our very eyes."

The President also sent dozens of FBI agents to Yemen to investigate the destroyer bombing. For now, no link between the bombing and Israeli-Palestinian violence can be assumed, but the State Department says most of the major radical Islamic organizations operate in Yemen, including the Palestinian group known as Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and cells linked to Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi whom American officials blamed for the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998.

In Israel, the cease-fire brokered by President Clinton in Egypt fell apart within three days. On October 23, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced that Israel was indefinitely suspending peace negotiations. By then, fierce fighting between Israeli and Palestinian forces had left 123 dead, all but 8 of them Palestinian.

The renewed violence left the two sides staring across a huge gulf and unable even to agree on who started the cycle of killing. Palestinians blame the Israelis, pointing to a visit to a Muslim sacred site in Jerusalem on September 28 by Ariel Sharon, a former defense minister and diehard opponent of compromise with the Palestinians. Sharon's visit, they say, was a provocation. After Palestinian youths responded by throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, Palestinians say the Israeli army overreacted by firing machine guns at the youths.

ISRAEL BLAMES ARAFAT

Israelis dispute the Palestinian version of events. They argue that Palestinians used Sharon's visit as an excuse to launch violent attacks after the two sides deadlocked in negotiations last summer. Those talks, led by President Clinton at Camp David, Maryland, foundered on the issue of who will control Jerusalem, the city claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as their capital. Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, the Israelis say, turned to violence rather than accept Barak's offer to share control of Jerusalem with the Palestinians.

SO CLOSE TO PEACE ...

Only a few weeks ago, many Israelis and Palestinians believed that a peace agreement was about to end more than 50 years of conflict that began when Israel declared independence in 1948. The fighting had intensified after 1967, when Israel captured territory in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the Six Day War with its Arab neighbors. In the peace process, Israel was handing over control of that land to the Palestinians in exchange for peace.

Now the world holds its breath, as the attack and counterattack run the risk of spiraling out of control. The State Department has warned Americans abroad of possible terrorist attacks. Oil prices could skyrocket too, if Arab nations, which supply 12 percent of U.S. oil, cut off supplies in retaliation for U.S. support of Israel, or if a war cuts supply lines.

World leaders can do little but watch as the situation grows more dangerous daily. "Both sides are saying, `You first,'" a high U.S. official says. "We have to get past the `yes but' responses."

For more coverage, including background on the conflict and the peace process, go to UPFRONT ONLINE.

nytimes.com/upfront

With reporting by New York Times reporters DEBORAH SONTAG and JOHN F. BURNS.

On the Brink of War

FOCUS: What Sparked the Latest Round of Israeli-Palestinian Violence?

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand how and why the Israelis and Palestinians, seemingly so near to a peace accord, found themselves in the middle of an explosive new round of violence.

Discussion Questions:

* Why do you believe Israelis and Palestinians seem unable to share their common land and live in peace?

* Why do you think Western nations are so involved in trying to find a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Photo Analysis: How might each side use photos in the article to justify its stand? (Also, see photos of a Palestinian camp [Sept. 18, p. 18], and a young Palestinian shooting victim, Oct. 30, News & Trends.)

Debate: Discuss how adversaries may react differently to the same event. One team of student's argues that Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount was used by Palestinians as a pretext for violence. What support does the article provide for this view?

Another team argues that Sharon's politics provoked violence. These students should explain why Palestinians saw his visit as an affront. What evidence does the article provide that would support this view?

Writing: Have students write to the teens quoted in News and Trends, page 7, with suggestions as to how peace could be won. (See addresses given.)

U.S. Role: One news report said President Clinton "strong-armed" Yasir Arafat and Ehud Barak to agree to a cease-fire. Can the U.S. be an honest broker for peace and still remain a loyal ally to Israel? Does the attack on the USS Cole suggest that the risks of patrolling the Middle East are too high? Should the attack stiffen U.S. determination to maintain a presence in the area?

Web Watch: Control of Jerusalem remains a major obstacle to peace. A color map of the city, identifying sites of the highest importance to Israelis, Palestinians, and both sides shows the close proximity of all holy places. http://us-israel. org/jsource/History/meijer.html

Note: For more articles, maps, and background on the crisis, see UPFRONT ONLINE Special Report: Crisis in the Middle East at nytimes.com/upfront.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Faces of Conflict: A Guide to the Key Players

News from the Middle East can be hard to follow unless you know who the players are and what they want. Here's a guide:

YASIR ARAFAT, LEADER OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

As the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Arafat was reviled by Israelis as a brutal terrorist--and revered by Palestinians as a patriot. Since the 1993 0slo accord, which gave Palestinians limited self-rule, Arafat has led the Palestinian Authority, the governing body for the patches of land along the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that Israel has relinquished to the Palestinians. He has promised peace with Israel in exchange for land, but has had to walk a fine line to convince hard-line Palestinians that he is not caving in to Israel, while showing Israel and the world that he is a serious partner for peace.

EHUD BARAK, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL

The most-decorated soldier in Israeli history, Barak now leads the nation as Prime Minister and head of the moderate One Israel Party. Barak won a landslide victory last year by promising to make a peace agreement his number one priority, He ended Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon, and has offered the Palestinians control of parts of Jerusalem. Still, Barak has shown that he's willing to use force to protect Israeli interests.

ARIEL SHARON, LEADER OF ISRAEL'S LIKUD PARTY

Sharon's visit to a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem provoked Palestinian rioting that began the latest round of violence. Some Israelis revere this leader of Israel's conservative Likud Party as the protector of Jewish rights. Palestinians blame the ex-general for the deaths of Arabs in conflicts dating back decades.

HAMAS

A militant Islamic movement, centered in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which opposes the peace process and uses terrorism to stop it. During its 13-year guerrilla war with Israel, Hamas has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed scores of Jews. The group advocates the establishment of a Palestinian state in place of Israel. At times, Arafat has cracked down on Hamas, but recently he has made overtures toward giving Hamas a bigger role in his administration.

THE UNITED STATES 

The U.S. has always been a staunch ally of Israel, yet also tries to be an "honest broker," mediating for peace, in the 1990s, the U.S. improved its relations with Arab nations, pouring billions of dollars in aid into Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco, and signing defense pacts with every Gulf Arab state. Still, much of the Arab world views the U.S. with hostility and mistrust, owing to its support of Israel.

SYRIA

Syria controls much of Lebanon, where it has 35,000 troops stationed, supports the Hezbollah guerrillas, and also has its own border dispute with Israel. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured Syria's Golan Heights. Israel has offered to give the land back in exchange for peace, but Syria refuses to discuss peace unless the land is returned first.

HEZBOLLAH

Hezbollah is an anti-Israel guerrilla group that operates out of Lebanon with support from Syria and Iran. Formed in 1982, Hezbollah waged a war of attrition that eventually led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation. The group specializes in attacks, bombings, and the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, but has also attacked French and American targets and hijacked airplanes.

--John DiConsiglio