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The Middle East has always been known as the Holy Land, the land of the Bible. For centuries, prophets have walked there, nations have collided and conquerors have come and gone. While Jews claim a three thousand-year-old attachment to this ancient land, Arabs also stake their devotion. In 1993, these two peoples, involved in a tragic conflict that has lasted more than half a century, saw the possibility of a new beginning.
It was called the Oslo Accord, and it transformed the political realities of the Middle East (Peres, p. 2) However, there have been many turbulent events that have followed the signing of the Accord, events that have undermined the agreement and are threatening to drive Israelis and Arabs apart once again. Since the founding of Israel in 1948, there has been continuous conflict between Israel and the Arab states. This conflict has been marked by six bloody wars. In 1867, during the six-day war of Syria, Jordan and Egypt, Israel captured the West Bank, Sinai and the Gaza strip.
Subsequently, a population of over a million Palestinian Arabs, together with their land was now under Israeli control. (Spencer, p. 70) It was during this time that a Palestinian leader emerged, Yasser Arafat. Labeled a terrorist by Israel and the United States, he and his Palestine Liberation Organization called for the eviction of Israel from the occupied territories by force of arms. In 1979, Israel returned Sinai to Egypt by a peace treaty. Although Egypt's Prime Minister Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1982 by anti-peace forces, the peace still remained between the two countries. This paved the way for negotiations with Jordan, Syria, and the Palestine's. (Hunter, p. 17 - 20) However, Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian territories led to the uprising of Arab youth in the West Bank and Gaza, known as the Intifada. For the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, the Intifada provided them with a new and assertive Palestinian identity.
Israelis were also growing tired of their roles as occupiers, as soldiers trained to defend their country in war were finding themselves aiming their weapons at rock throwing teenagers. Many Israelis were disillusioned and desperately eager for a solution. When the United States and Russia initiated talks in Madrid and Washington at the end of the Cold War, it seemed that peace was attainable. But the talks quickly broke down as dogmatic assertions and old accusations were repeated. (Finkelstein, p. 14 - 15) In June 1992, the Labour government was elected in Israel on a platform of peace and change. At its head was Yitzhak Rabin, former military chief of staff.
His move from the battlefield to the negotiation table was a historical moment in the life of Israel. Madrid had failed because Israeli and United States delegates refused to deal with the PLO. But Rabin and foreign minister Peres, unlike their predecessors, were willing to pursue new avenues for peace. The way was now paved for one of the most intriguing diplomatic accords of recent years, the Oslo Agreement. It was now clear that direct dialogue was needed between the PLO and Israel. (Peres, p. 12) Secret talks were arranged between the two sides in Norway starting in January 1993. However, one key matter held up the talks, that being the Israeli ban on contact with the PLO.
When the Israeli Knesset repealed this, the way to Oslo was open. Talks took place between January and May of 1993. As talks continued, complications arose, notably Israel's insistence that it retain control of West Bank security. However, as trust grew, both sides compromised as they moved towards reconciliation and mutual recognition.
After eight months of negotiations, an agreement of principles was signed secretly in Oslo. The declaration of principles bound Israel and the Palestinians to a five-year interim agreement. Power over Gaza and Jericho would be transferred to the Palestinians, economic programs would be developed and a new port built. Resolution of the harder questions such as Jerusalem would be left for a permanent status agreement to be concluded within five years. ("Days of Reckoning", p. 34 - 35) On September 13, 1993, Rabin and Arafat met on the lawns of the White House to sign a declaration of peace. The negotiations that had started in such secrecy were now confirmed before the world. The Oslo Agreement and the remarkable handshake of Rabin with Arafat symbolized a New Hope and feeling of mutual trust.
For the accord to succeed that trust would have to be defended and shared by the Israeli and Palestinian people. In the months that followed, there was a sense of anticipation. Israel had ruled Gaza for three decades, but Oslo brought that occupation to an end. The events of the year also brought a host of unexpected benefits for the Israelis. The Arab economic boycott, which had lasted forty years, was suspended, and the attitude towards Israel in the Arab world changed for the better. Israel was now taking part in major regional economic conferences.
During this period, relations between Israel and Jordan improved, opening the path for peace. In October 1994, nearly a year after the meeting of Rabin and Arafat, Israel and Jordan officially ended more than fifty years of conflict. Israel's new partnership with Jordan encouraged Syria to negotiate for the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the Six-Day War. Though inconclusive, the talks were a major step forward. (Peres, p. 40 - 45) Over a hundred new countries expressing their willingness to establish diplomatic ties with Israel followed the post-Oslo response of the Arab world to Israel, and foreign investments soared. However, the Peace Accord also had many enemies, including the Israeli settlers in the occupied territories as well as Arab radicals. At first, the adversaries of the accord were careful not to act on their opinion against a diplomatic achievement so universally celebrated, but the time would come when they would take their action.
The main Arab opposition to the peace accord is rooted in the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements. Both groups call for total Israeli withdrawal from the occupied lands, and to give the Palestinians more freedom and independence. In Israel, the minority opposing the accord includes the ultra-nationalists and the religious right wing. They believe that giving up territory is in total opposition and conflict with the ideals of the land of Israeli movement. (Hunter, p. 217) On both sides, religion and inflamed emotions have again and again brought the peace process to the brink of annihilation.
The first spark between the two sides was ignited in Hebron, the site of the tombs of the patriarchs, a building sacred to both Jews and Arabs. Early in 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a religious Jew, opened fire and killed thirty-nine Arabs while at prayer. In April of 1994, in response to the Hebron killings, two Arab suicide bombers blew up Jewish buses in northern and central Israel. Fifteen dies and seventy were injured. (Peres, p. 177 - 178) Many other terrorist attacks took place during the course of 1994. On October 19, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed twenty-two Israelis and wounded forty-eight in a bus explosion in Tel Aviv. In the following month, a Palestinian suicide bomber on a bicycle in the Gaza Strip took the lives of three Israeli soldiers.
On December 25, another Palestinian blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem, wounding twelve Israelis. However, these terrorist actions did not stop with the New Year. On January 22, 1995, two Palestinians blew themselves up at a junction in central Israel, killing twenty-one Israelis. Hamas claimed responsibility for all these attacks. ("Chronology of Bombing Attacks Following September 1993 Accord") The Israeli and Palestinian dispute is about many things, but at its centre is the dispute over land. It is about two people's claims to the same territory, the West Bank. For many Palestinians, Oslo did not offer enough.
They claim all the occupied territories are theirs, including east Jerusalem. In 1977, Israeli Jews had been encouraged by the new right-wing Likud government to settle in the West Bank. Since then, their number has grown to over 125 000 settlers. Surrounding them in small towns and hundreds of villages live over a million Arabs. Most settlers feel a deep bonding between themselves, the Bible, and Jewish historical roots in the area. Despite worldwide criticism of their actions, the settlers believe that occupation of the land is justified historically and legally.
The prospect of Arab self-rule on the West Bank struck at their very existence, and in the summer of 1995, the settlers poured out to protest the expansion of Palestinian self-rule. When Rabin ignored the protests, the volume increased, and anger built. The right-wing protests continued, growing more hostile and violent each day. During this time, on July 24, 1995, two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up outside two Jewish settlements in the West Bank, killing seven Israelis and an American. (Finkelstein, p. 130 - 140) In an atmosphere of growing tension, the Labour party responded with a massive rally for peace in Tel Aviv. The date was November 4, 1995, and just passed ten o'clock p. m. , Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot dead by Yoga Amir, a religious law student opposed to the peace process.
Devastated by the loss, the country mourned for their Prime Minister who had been a martyr for peace. Rabin had been murdered in an attempt to halt the peace process, however initially the effect was just the reverse. The opposition was shocked into silence, and four more West Bank cities were handed over to the PLO. ("A Martyr to Peace", p. 26 - 28) Three months after Rabin's death, one of the key events called for by Oslo took place. The Palestinians held their first elections, marking the start of representative government.
Eventually, eighty-eight people were elected to a new legislative council headed by Yasser Arafat. (Hunter, p. 56) Two and a half years after the signing o...
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