MIDEAST HOPES.

Will the Wye Peace Agreement Survive?

JERUSALEM, Israel--They said it couldn't be done. But President Bill Clinton did it. He persuaded two world leaders who really don't like each other, and who represent peoples who have fought for centuries, to agree on steps toward peace.

It was no easy task. For nine days and nights, from October 15 to October 24, Clinton's negotiating team sat down with Yasir Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Wye River Conference Center in Maryland. Clinton had called the two leaders to the United States to try to revive the failing prospects for peace in the Mideast.

The talks were touch and go from the start. At one point, the Israelis had packed their suitcases and said they were leaving. At another point, President Clinton reportedly became so angry with Netanyahu that he slammed papers down on the table and stormed off, saying, "This is despicable!"

On Thursday, October 22, President Clinton laid down the law: He told Netanyahu and Arafat "We are going to stay here until we finish this."

Wye River Agreement

Finally, after long, tough negotiations, an agreement was worked out. The agreement, known as the Wye River Agreement, was signed by Arafat, Netanyahu, and Clinton on Oct. 23 in Washington, D.C.

The Wye River Agreement calls for Israel to hand over an additional 13 percent of the West Bank (see map on page 4) to PLO control in exchange for tougher Palestinian action to fight anti-Israeli violence. By early 1999, Palestinians are scheduled to have self-rule in approximately 40 percent of the West Bank. The PLO also agreed to change the language of its national charter that calls for the destruction of Israel. In addition, the United States agreed to help monitor compliance with the agreement through the CIA and other agencies.

The Wye River Agreement is the third interim peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The previous agreements were signed in 1993 and 1995. Those agreements, along with the Wye River Agreement, all set a timetable toward a final peace treaty.

Ancient Quarrel

The peace agreements are designed to bring an end to a quarrel that has festered in the Middle East for more than a thousand years.

More than 3,000 years ago, the land that is now occupied by Israel was the ancient homeland of the Jews. Two thousand years ago, that land, then called Judea, was conquered by the Romans, who changed its name to Palestine.

After the Arabs conquered Palestine in A.D. 636, the area was occupied mostly by Arabs. Arab families farmed the land and traded in its cities. The Arabic language and the religion of Islam predominated. Beginning about 100 years ago, however, Jews from Europe began immigrating to Palestine. Conflicts over the land developed among Arabs and Jews. Generations of families grew up with hatred and resentments.

After World War II (1939-45), Jews who had survived Adolf Hitler's death camps flooded Palestine with new immigrants.

In 1947, the United Nations set up a plan to divide Palestine into two states, one Jewish, the other Arab. Jews accepted this plan. But many Palestinians rejected it and left to live in nearby Arab countries. On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was created--and was attacked by a number of Arab nations, including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

Israel fought a total of four wars with Arab nations--in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973. The PLO, created in 1964, joined in the wars against Israel by mounting terrorist attacks against Jews. Today, the PLO has officially renounced terrorism.

Although many Israelis and Palestinians now work together and live within yards of one another, hatred between them is very strong. Maps of the West Bank in Palestinian schools still show only the names of Palestinian villages destroyed by Israel, not the names of new Israeli communities erected in their place. Israeli maps and texts make no reference to the destroyed Palestinian towns.

Many Israelis oppose the peace accords because they think the West Bank should remain part of Israel. More than 140,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank among more than 1 million Arabs. Angry settlers have demonstrated in the West Bank since the signing of the Wye River Agreement.

On their side, many Palestinians oppose the agreement as not creating a truly independent Palestinian nation.

The Islamic resistance movement known as Hamas has slammed the Wye River Agreement as legitimizing continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

"Hamas is opposed to any accord that does not put an end to (Israeli) occupation and that does not grant us freedom and independence," said Hamas's spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Most Palestinians and Israelis have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the Wye River Agreement.

"Until I see with my own eyes that their promises are worth the ink they're written in, I don't want to get my hopes up," said Fatmeh Jwailes, a Palestinian woman.

RELATED ARTICLE: SIDE LIGHTS

* Six years ago, John Wallach was a journalist covering the Middle East, watching the patterns of violence repeat themselves over and over. Then he had an idea of how he might help shape a more peaceful future for the Middle East. That was when he started the Seeds of Peace International Camp at Pleasant Lake in the woods of Maine.

* Each year, Israeli and Arab teens come to the camp to spend a few weeks learning to live with one another. They spend their days playing games, taking hikes, and getting acquainted. They even bunk together, sleeping just feet from people who they might fear if they were back at home in the Middle East. The idea is to let the Arab and Israeli kids see each other as real human beings, rather than as some abstract, monstrous enemy.

* Seeds of Peace International Camp is not just about fun and games, though. Each night the campers (photo right) participate in discussion groups in which they share and listen to one another's points of view. "The point of the discussions is for campers to realize that their differences are deep," explained Wallach. "But it's up to them to find ways to resolve them."

* By the time the camp sessions end, most campers have made close friendships with members of the opposite group. Some have started a newspaper. Those bonds, Wallach contends, will help Israeli and Arab leaders of tomorrow better understand each other. "After all," he points out, "one of these kids could become a president or prime minister one day."