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Terrorist actions, what exactly are they? Well just imagine yourself in a place where bombs can turn up in the strangest of places like inside a watermelon on the seat of a bus or inside a drink bottle being hurled at a pub. Malls getting bombed everyday and having to keep your child inside at all times because it seems to be the safest places, but it can still be bombed as well. This may not be an everyday thing in the United States but lately they happen to the people of Israel and Palestine almost every day. Lets us travel back to September last year with what started out as a disagreement regarding land became violent. The countries' leaders, Ariel Sharon of Israel and Yasser Arafat of Palestine, have made attempts at armistice, but both sides were unable to agree on anything. My essay is going to cover three major points: one, where the United States stands in this war that is being waged. Two, how this whole thing started and why, and finally how I believe this dispute is going to end.

First and foremost, I am going to speak about where the United States stands amidst all this. Both the United States and the European Union believe that they share a common vision of the two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security. President Bush spoke at a White House news conference with European Union (EU) Council President Jose Aznar and EU Commission President Romano Prodi, after three and a half hours of talks with them. The talks were part of the annual summit between the United States and the European Union. President Bush also said that the United States wants to work with the Palestinian people "to build a Palestinian state that both lives at peace with Israel and lives up to the best hopes of its people." He said it was important for Arafat to show the world "that he's capable of leading" his people toward peace and away from violence.

Secondly, how did this all start? Well, on one side (Israel) of the issue we have those who believe that God has given Palestine to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a gift made in perpetuity. For believing Jews and Christians, Israel's original occupation of Palestine was commanded by God, as was the destruction of the original population. Because of this, Christians around the world often hold a special place in their hearts for Israel and usually helped the Zionists settle Palestine, leading to the creation of the modern Jewish state and strong support from Western nations. For some Jews, the religious dimension no longer matters, yet Palestine remains their historical homeland. For some Christians, God's promises to the Jews were made null and void through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Again, whether their theology gives the Holy Land a special position in God's eyes or not, most Christians agree that Palestine is the ancestral land of the Jews. On the other side (Palestine), the Jews were not the original residents of Palestine. Abraham and his descendants lived there for a time, spent 400 years in Egypt, and returned as conquerors, driving out the natives, when not committing all out genocide. The history of Israel records times when the Jews were taken into exile and their land abandoned or given into the hands of others. Even before the time of Jesus a great issue among Jews was how to deal with Samaritans, those who came to live in Palestine while the Jews were in exile. Following the fall of the Jewish state in the first century, Jews dispersed through the known world, retaining their identity wherever they settled. Palestine was taken in turn by the Moslems, liberated by Crusaders, and reverted to local rule during intervening centuries. Then came