Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn't come home to ticker tape parades after returning from the United States, where the two signed a peace accord to ease tension in their homelands. They were greeted with heated protests and the retributive deaths of an Israeli settler and a Palestinian farmer.

The world praised the agreement, but hard-liners from both countries now are attacking it. While most Americans view the accord as a crucial first step to peace, some Palestinians and Israelis view it as an affront to their respective rights and beliefs.

Despite the shock waves the agreement is creating, Arafat, Netanyahu and the United States must do their best to stand by it.

The accord's provisions, including returning parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control and eliminating words that promoted the destruction of Israel from the Palestinian charter, are needed to spark the peace process. The agreement cannot eliminate fundamental differences, but it can promote the end of violence resulting from these differences.

And despite the negative results the agreement seems to be creating, the United States was in the right to initiate the summit. With society becoming more global and dependent on other countries, the United States should use its influence to ease the Middle East problem and avoid global consequences.

Because of such consequences, the United States should not back down in its support of the track to peace. If anti-agreement factions overthrow the governments and assume power, economic sanctions should be imposed. If armed conflict between extremists begins, military assistance should be provided.

The United States also must support the positives. It should try to garner further support from countries to enforce the agreement and provide financial assistance for programs that further the peace process. Whether in response to positives or negatives, the United States must finish what it helped start.

A disagreement of this magnitude, which has been raging for decades, takes time and support to be resolved. Deaths and violence are disheartening, but Arafat, Netanyahu and the United States should take pride in what they have accomplished. If they can keep the faith, perhaps one day their achievements will receive a warmer welcome from all.