Wednesday will mark the 30th anniversary of the Oslo Accord, which was signed on the White House lawn in Washington, generating hope that the century-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict could end.
US president Bill Clinton coaxed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzak Rabin to shake hands and open negotiations which Palestinians believed would deliver a mini-state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
A world away, cheerful Palestinians gathered at Orient House, the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s East Jerusalem headquarters, where a Palestinian boy scout raised the red, white, black and green Palestinian flag, violating Israel’s ban. While Palestinians sang their national anthem, little paper flags were handed round. Young people carried a huge flag down Salaheddin Street, the main thoroughfare of the Israeli-occupied sector of the city, and hung it over Damascus Gate in the Old City’s walls.
The next morning the small oasis town of Jericho was festooned with bunting and flags. Palestinians were optimistic about their future. The drive to Gaza took two hours as there were no checkpoints and the border was open. Palestinians were celebrating in Gaza’s streets – to the dismay of Hamas, which did not support the agreement.
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On May 4th, 1994, an agreement reached in Cairo provided for Israeli withdrawal from most of Gaza and Jericho and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
Arafat returned to Gaza on July 1st, entering from Egypt. He was welcomed by joyous Palestinians before hurrying to Gaza city where he addressed a throng of 70,000. On July 5th, he landed in Jericho and was sworn in as Palestinian Authority leader. He believed Israeli occupation would end and Palestinians would win self-determination. But he was wrong.
Negotiated from early 1993 and finalised in Oslo on August 20th 1994, the accord gave Israel a huge advantage. Israel occupied Palestine, enjoyed Western finance, and backing, and possessed powerful armed forces. In violation of international law, Israel had planted 115,000 settlers in the Palestinian territories and had no intention of halting settlement expansion. The Palestinians had little international support, no armed force to challenge Israel, and no money.
Israel was represented in negotiations by history professors Yair Hirschfeld and Ron Pundak and diplomat Uri Savir. They were chosen by peace activist deputy foreign minister Yossi Beilin who reported to foreign minister Shimon Peres.
The Palestinian negotiators were senior Fatah official Ahmed Qurei and Palestine People’s Party envoy Hassan Asfour, who was an aide to Arafat’s deputy Mahmoud Abbas.
On September 1st, I flew to Tunis to cover Arafat’s meeting with an Irish delegation led by Brian Lenihan Snr, who briefed me on their talks. In turn, I described my alarming interview with Asfour, who showed me the flawed Oslo document and told me that he and Qurei, neither of whom spoke English fluently, rang colleagues to ask meanings of words and phrases.
While the Oslo Accord reaffirmed the principle of non-acquisition of territory by force, Israel was left in place and in charge in conquered territory until final status issues were decided.
These included Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees, East Jerusalem, water rights, borders, security, and Palestinian freedom of movement. The 1999 deadline for reaching a final peace deal was missed and negotiations halted in 2014. Over three decades Israel installed another 585,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, deepening the occupation and denying Palestinians territory for their state.