On this day, 34 years ago, October 30, 1991 (September 23, 1991, the Middle East Peace Conference to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli issue opened. On October 30, 1991, the Middle East Peace Conference opened in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The meeting was jointly sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was the first time that Israel and Arab countries sat together after more than 40 years of war and five wars. The opening ceremony was held in the cylindrical hall of the Old Palace in Spain. Sitting at the top of the "T"-shaped conference table were U.S. President Bush and other U.S. delegations, Soviet President Gorbachev and other Soviet delegations, and host Spanish Prime Minister Gonzalez. The joint delegations of the European Community, Jordan and Palestine, and the delegations of Syria, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon sat on both sides of the "T"-shaped conference table. Representatives of the United Nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab Maghreb Union also attended the opening ceremony. At the three-day meeting, Arab and Israeli countries stated their positions on resolving the Middle East issue. Both sides are stubborn on issues of principle and do not give in to each other. The focus of disagreement is territorial issues. Arab countries insist that Israel implement UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, withdraw from the Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Middle East War, and exchange "land for peace." Israel refused to return these territories on the grounds of its own security and demanded that separate peace treaties be signed with various Arab countries in exchange for "peace for peace." Although the attitudes of both Arab and Israeli sides were very tough in their official speeches, they actually showed varying degrees of flexibility. Representatives of Israel and Jordan hinted that the two countries were expected to sign separate peace agreements. Syria announced for the first time that it could sign a security agreement with Israel as long as Israeli troops withdraw from the occupied Golan Heights. The Arab and Israeli sides originally had great differences on the venue of the bilateral talks at the first stage of the Peace Conference. After consultations, they also reached a preliminary compromise, avoiding the danger of the just-started peace talks being aborted due to procedural issues. Both the United States and the Soviet Union called on both Arab and Israeli sides to take steps to maintain the momentum for peace in the Middle East. The Middle East issue is complex and cannot be solved overnight. The opening of the Middle East Peace Conference reflects the strong desire of the people of all countries in the Middle East for peace. This is the first step towards peace in the Middle East.