Oslo Accords Turn 25 – Is There Any Hope for Israeli-Palestinian Peace?

• Today marks 25 years since American, Israeli, and Palestinian negotiators signed the 1993 Oslo Accords, intended finally to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians after decades of bitter conflict.
• At the time, the Accords brought with them international hope that Israelis and Palestinians could live together peacefully.
• Seven years later, the second intifada began, opening one of the bloodiest chapters in the region’s history and substantially undermining those hopes.
• Today, a path to peace seems far from certain.

Background

According to the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Historian, under the Oslo Accords:

“Israel accepted the [Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)] as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace. Both sides agreed that a Palestinian Authority (PA) would be established and assume governing responsibilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five-year period. Then, permanent status talks on the issues of borders, refugees, and Jerusalem would be held.”

The term “intifada” translates as “shaking off,” and in this literal sense, the two intifadas – the first from 1987 to 1993 and the second from 2000 to 2003 – failed to achieve Palestinian goals of autonomy or eventual independence.

According to Lawfare:

“The causes of the second intifada were complex: Anger over a stagnating peace process, leadership and generational rivalries within the Palestinian movement, a hope by some Palestinian leaders that limited bloodshed would lead to political concessions from Israel, and a harsh initial response by the Israelis all led violence to surge in 2000. By the end of 2005, over 1,000 Israelis died from terrorism and in military operations, while over 3,000 Palestinians civilians and militants were killed, mostly at the hands of Israeli forces.”

The second intifada prompted the establishment of extensive security barriers to insulate the Israeli population from Palestinian infiltration and attack. The situation has since deteriorated significantly, with violence at some points leaving some to question whether the region may soon be facing its third intifada. The crumbling economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has further exacerbated matters, adding to concerns about political and social unrest.

Today, Palestinian activists called for the abandonment of the Oslo Accords, saying they’ve failed to fulfill Palestinian aspirations. They say Israel took advantage of the Accords to create irreversible facts on the ground, especially by increasing settlement construction.

Current views

The New York Times notes:

“If Oslo has failed the Palestinians, part of that failure is self-inflicted. An increase in terrorist attacks after Oslo’s signing, followed by the deadly Second Intifada that erupted in 2000, soured many Israelis on peacemaking and eventually led Israel to sideline the process.”

An opinion piece in Foreign Policy asserts that the Oslo Accords are dead, but that activists and diplomats should focus on recreating the conditions that made the Accords possible in the first place:

“The particular process set in motion by Oslo is dead; it cannot be revived. What is presented today as the peace process is in fact little more than a tag-team bullying effort by the powerful parties—Israel and the United States—against the stateless Palestinians. Indeed, if the Trump administration ever gets around to actually presenting a plan, it is likely to codify an existing reality in which Palestinians are denied rights and freedoms and Israel is relieved of all obligations and accountability.

“However, peace itself has not been rendered unattainable. The challenge is to create again the conditions for a breakthrough by rediscovering the ingredients that led, a quarter century ago, to Israeli and Palestinian leaders genuinely seeking common ground.”

Israeli news outlet Haaretz maintains a dedicated page to opinion and analysis pieces marking the quarter-century anniversary of the Oslo Accords, many of which deeply contradict one another:

• Amos Harel asserts that the Accords disintegrated:

“because they failed to provide Israelis with the level of personal security promised to them by the Rabin-Peres government at the time of the signing. A chain of deadly events – Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs, a wave of Hamas suicide bombers blowing up buses, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin – sent the vision of Oslo up in smoke. As the number of terror attacks increased, support for the accords dwindled along with Israelis’ support for withdrawal from more territory, without which no final accord was attainable.”

• Carolina Landsmann argues that Israel’s right-wingers are “the real Oslo criminals,” highlighting a series of terrorist acts committed by Israeli Jews.
• Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher, and Orni Petruschka offer advice on President Donald Trump’s approach to peace negotiations:

“[T]he Trump team’s end-of-conflict package must encompass the following: 1) a viable and democratic Palestinian state living peacefully side by side with Israel, based on the 1967 borders with equitable territorial swaps; 2) guaranteed security arrangements between Israel and a demilitarized Palestine; 3) termination of refugee status via compensation and practical rehabilitation; 4) Jerusalem the capital of Israel and Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine, with a special regime over the Old City; 5) free access and worship in the holy places; 6) finality of mutual claims.”

What do you think?

What approach, if any, should the U.S. take to securing peace between Israelis and Palestinians? Hit Take Action to tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

(Photo Credit: Sara E. Murphy)