In John Cox's column on the Middle East in Monday's paper, ("First-Hand Glimpse of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict") he wrote, "Hatred and ignorance exist on both sides (Israelis and Palestinians), but the burden is heavier on the side of the Israelis. It is tragic that a people who have suffered centuries of persecution, leading to the single most horrendous crime in all history, are now represented by a state based upon the subjugation of another people."
During the waning days of the Clinton administration, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Palestinian Chairman Yassir Arafat at Taba under the auspices of the United States.
There, Israel offered the Palestinians 100 percent of Gaza, 97 percent of the West Bank, Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, two-thirds of the Old City in Jerusalem, and sovereignty over the Temple Mount. As far as Palestinian refugees, Israel said it would accept 100,000 back into Israel proper, but with the help of the international community would secure billions of dollars for these refugees to settle comfortably in the newly established Palestinian State. Arafat not only said
