As the Israelis and Palestinians struggle slowly and painfully toward some kind of accommodation that eventually will almost certainly involve the creation of a Palestinian state, the future of the scrolls and the settlement associated with them is emerging as another thorny issue.
Several things are clear.
Qumran is in the West Bank. So are the 11 caves where the scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956. And before 1967, Qumran was in an area controlled by Jordan. Just as clear is the fact that the scrolls are Jewish religious documents and include more than two hundred Biblical manuscripts parts of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther and the Song of Songs. The Palestinians have already stated that they want both the scrolls and the site, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Israel and the West Bank.