1.   For Israelis and Palestinians alike, the standoff brings back memories of an outbreak of bloody violence at the site nearly two years ago.

2.   The standoff brings the countries to the brink of war.

3.   The standoff has brought criticism to both sides.

4.   The standoff brought a long-simmering conflict between President Mircea Snegur and the ruling party into the open and threatened to split the army.

5.   The standoff brought attention to the high numbers of orphans and the jobless in Haiti.

6.   The tense standoff brought an outcry of international condemnation from the United Nations, Organization of American States, Canada, the United States and the European Union.