My wife Marie and I recently returned from a trip to Israel and the West Bank. The Palestinian territories today consist of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, and a blob of land extending westward from the Jordan river into the heart of Israel. It is referred to as the West Bank.

In 1948 the United Nations had a plan calling for the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Palestinian states. The plan was never carried out because a war broke out between the Jewish and Arab populations. After a Jewish victory, the land allotted to the Palestinians was about 23% of the pre-partition Palestinian Mandate.

The state of Israel together with the West Bank are at the very eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The area is comparable to the I-5 corridor from the B.C. border to the California border. The northern part of the country consists of a fertile coastal plain that rises to the east into mountains that are two to three thousand feet high. In the north there is enough rainfall, especially in the mountains, to recharge aquifers that flow under much of the country and make possible productive truck farming. The Jordan River is also a supply of irrigation water. The south of the country consists of the Dead Sea area, the Negev Desert, and a coastal plain which includes the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the West Bank, to a lesser extent, are very modern. In Israel, air-conditioned buses run between all major cities and there is a super railroad system running along the coastal plain. The main city is Jerusalem. It is divided into Jewish West Jerusalem and Arab East Jerusalem. The ancient walled city lies in East Jerusalem. This is where the Jews had their ancient temple and today have the Western wall. It is where Christ preached, was tried, crucified, and buried. It is also the home of the third most holy site in the Muslim world, The Temple Mount with its gold domed mosque.

In the West Bank there are three features that stand out. First there is the separation wall that is supposed to be a security fence separating Jewish and Palestinian lands. The wall is usually built on the Palestinian land and is therefore a device used to obtain more Palestinian land. There are walls built around certain Palestinian towns with a single entrance controlled by an Israeli checkpoint. The aim obviously is to contain a population that might be restive. Sometimes a wall will be built just to make it difficult for the Palestinians to travel between different places in the West Bank. Some walls are built to protect Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian land.

The second thing that one notices are the checkpoints operated by the Israeli Defense Force, IDF for short. All movement inside the West Bank is controlled by these checkpoints. One can never be sure of successful passage even with the right papers. In general, checkpoints are used by the Israelis to control the passage of Palestinians in and out of the West Bank and between different locations in the West Bank. They make movement very difficult. We became acquainted with a nun in East Jerusalem whose home was formerly 10 minutes away in the West Bank. Today it takes her four hours to get home. She is never sure that she won't be turned back by an Israeli soldier for no apparent reason.

The third thing that stands out are the settlements. They are often large and consist of multi-storied apartment houses all built on Palestinian land. They are expensive and very well built. They seem to be built in areas that will cut up the Palestinian Territories in such a way as to make a viable Palestinian state impossible. Settlers are noted for not being respectful of the local Arab population and are constantly trying to obtain more Arab land. Of course the Arab population is not happy about people building on land that does not belong to them. Very often there will be Israeli troops assigned to keep the two populations separated.

The Bush administration, late last month, sponsored peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians at Annapolis, Maryland. Some of the issues that were to be discussed included Palestinian refuges, final borders, what should happen to the settlements, the right of return of Palestinians to Palestine and Israel, distribution of water, and security issues. Instead, the parties agreed--maybe--to have "peace talks" in the future; nothing else was discussed.

A recent article in the Jerusalem Post stated that the people of both Israel and Palestine expected their respective governments to make some solid accomplishments at the negotiating table and that mere talk is not enough. President Carter's book "Palestine: Peace or Apartheid" would be a good place to start getting additional information about this topic.