Doubt Prevails

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "Israelis, Palestinians Skeptical of Peace." The article states, "While the morning newspapers carried extensive coverage of the Annapolis conference -- some hopeful, much of it doubtful -- there were few indications on the ground that what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called a "historic" moment in the six-decade conflict had taken place." "'The event in Annapolis was a nonevent,' said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at Bir Zeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah. 'There was nothing there -- three speeches and that's it. For people here, the reaction is simple. We'll believe it when we see it.'"

Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Younger Children

• Ask students to respond to the following statement thoughtfully: "It is sometimes very difficult to make up with other kids after a fight or an argument."
• What is the nicest thing that somebody can say to somebody else?
• Have students ever gotten mad at their parents? What did they get mad about? Do students think it's possible for them to have an argument with their parents and for them to be right? Why/why not?
• What does the word "peace" mean? Do students think that peace is important? Explain!!

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Skeptical; Inaugurated; Dismantle; and, Uprooting.
• Ask students to identify the necessary characteristics for a moment in time to be considered historically significant. When can it be determined whether or not a moment was historically significant? Explain!
• Do students think it's more important for the leaders of two nations to want peace or the people who live in the nations to want peace? Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective.
• In what ways might the U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian tensions support the peace initiative? In what ways might such involvement hinder the peace initiative? How do students think Iranian students, who support their government, might think about this answer differently than American students?