Road map to peace

The White House actually has a web page dedicated to the road map to peace: The Road Map to Peace.

- According to the Council on Foreign Relations, a "U.S.-backed peace proposal, the road map sets a series of benchmarks designed to move Israelis and Palestinians over three years to the creation of a Palestinian state that exists in peace with Israel.

"Both sides are required to take immediate steps to end violence and create the conditions for a lasting peace. As first steps, Israel must immediately dismantle what are called settlement 'outposts,' extensions of Israeli colonies built within the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian leaders must immediately curb terrorism and take steps toward a democratic, accountable government.

"The plan, which was officially presented April 30 to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, doesn't include specific details of a final agreement. Instead, it leaves such 'final status' issues open to subsequent negotiations. As a result, some experts consider the road map more of a ceasefire agreement than a blueprint for peace. A key measure of success, they say, will be if the road map spurs Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table after two-and-a-half years of armed conflict.

The road map originated with the U.S. Department of State and "was based on a speech President George W. Bush gave in June 2002 that laid out a vision of Israeli and Palestinian states living in peace. It was then modified and endorsed by the group known as the quartet--representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations, and the United States--that was set up to work on Middle East peace. The Palestinians, Israelis, and other parties in the Middle East were consulted, but they did not directly participate in the plan's creation."

Source: "The Middle East: The Road Map to Peace." Updated: July 24, 2003.

The Road Map

 * Text of proposed 'road map', Document, Source: PLO Negotiations Affairs Department, April 30, 2003.
 * To a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, April 30, 2003. Full-text English version.

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