Settling Historical Land Claims in the Wake of Arab-Israeli Peace

The Arab-Israeli peace process created frameworks in which Arabs and Israelis could seek resolution of long-standing land claims engendered by the 1948 war. Decades of hostility and diplomatic nonrecognition prevented states and individual landowners alike from claiming land owned prior to 1948 that later lay across hostile borders and cease-fire lines. The 1994 Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty and the various Israeli-PLO agreements have afforded Palestinians, Jordanians, and Israelis the opportunity to resolve or at least discuss such issues. Israeli-Syrian talks may allow a discussion of similar bilateral claims.