[رسالة فلسطين]

The Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations
Facts and Numbers ….Hopes and Delusions

As early as the beginning of twentieth century, the Palestinian people single-handedly faced conspiracies and wars where horrid unprecedented massacres occurred in order to strip the land of its original identity. The enemy was a merciless group of Jews that came from all over the world and used all possible gang crimes to exile the land's indigenous owners in order to create a new Entity on the ruins of a holy history and Arabic roots.

Early forms of resistance consisted of strikes and demonstrations, which then progressed into simple armed confrontations against the regulated and much more advanced Israeli forces, where thousands of Palestinians were killed. Needless to say, the Palestinian people were always short of military and financial aid.

In 1966, the Arabic counties established the Palestinian Liberation Organization in an attempt to organize the Palestinian resistance by representing and authorizing it. The PLO was headed by elected members at first, who were then removed and replaced by a group from the “Fatah” movement led by Yasser Arafat. This period, which lasted until the seventies, was considered to be their golden years because they were able to lead the Palestinian resistance into giving painful blows to the Zionist occupiers.

Palestinian Declaration of Independence

On November 15, 1988, the Palestinian National Council held a meeting in Algeria where Yasser Arafat, the PLO’s Chairman, announced the formation of the Palestinian state on the lands that were freed in the 1967 war. A new phase has begun which was marked by long series of negotiations:

The history of negotiations with Zionists in the last sixty years

Dividing Palestine Plan

This refers to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947. The decision declared the end of the British Mandate over Palestine and the division of the territory into 3 new entities: the establishment of an Arab state and a Jewish state on the Palestinian land, and the internationalization of the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

These resolutions resulted in refusals and uproars wars until a temporary truce was established and secret, as well as open, negotiations began at the end of the 1973 war.

The Camp David Accords, signed by Egypt and Israel on September 17, 1978, marked the beginning of direct and public negotiations with the Zionist entity, where the Palestinian people were given self-rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip only.

The Madrid Peace Conference

The first public meeting between Israel and the Arab states was held from October 30 to November 1, 1991, in order to develop the first steps towards a peace treaty and Palestinian rights. The two sides agreed to continue bilateral meetings in hopes to achieve lasting peace.

The Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords, signed in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat on September 13,1993, is the first formal agreement between Israel, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shimon Peres, and the Palestine Liberation Organization, represented by the Secretary of the Executive Committee, Mahmoud Abbas.

The Convention provides for the establishment of the authority of Palestinian interim self-government, now known as the Palestinian National Authority, and a Legislative Council elected from the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This arrangement was to last for an interim period during which a permanent agreement would be negotiated no later than the third year of this transition period.

The agreement stated that these negotiations will cover the remaining issues, including Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, borders, and relations and cooperation with other neighbors.

Cairo Agreement of 1995

This refers to an agreement that Israel signed with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, under the supervision of the United States and the Egyptian government, in May 1994. The agreement declared that the Palestinian people will self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, gradually paving the way to establish an independent Palestinian state in the areas from which Israel withdraws. However, fifteen years after the Cairo Agreement, it appears that both parties are far removed from these set goals, and for peace as a result of negotiations have disappeared.

Taba Agreement

On September 28, 1995, The Palestinians and Israelis signed the Taba Agreement in Taba, where Israel pledged to withdraw from 6 major Arab cities and 400 villages in the beginning of 1996, the election of 82 members of the Legislative Council were elected, and the release of detainees in Israeli prisons.

Wye River agreement

The first Wye River agreement 1998

After a presidential meeting between President Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former President Bill Clinton on October 15, 1998, the “Wye River Agreement” was signed on October 26. Based on the principle “land for security”, Israel was to implement redeployment from 13% of the West Bank in return for the Palestinian Authority intensifying its campaign against “violence”

The second Wye River agreement 1999

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak signed “the second Wye River agreement” with the Palestinian Authority in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on September 4, 1999. This agreement modified and clarified some points of "the first of the Wye River Agreement”, such as redeployment, release of prisoners, the safe passage, the port of Gaza, security arrangements, and other matters.

Mitchell Report

In 2001 the American fact-finding committee, led by former US Senator George Mitchell, created a report in regards of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Road Map

In 2002, the 'Road Map' came to play, a name used to refer to the peace initiative in the Middle East. The objective of the initiative was to start talks in order reach a final solution for a peaceful settlement through the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005, a peace plan prepared by the Quartet which is comprised of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia.

The focus of this "map" was the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine, by the year 2005, which did not occur.

The Israelies have approved the “road map” after observing it and modifying it along with introducing their new conditions. They hoped that the Road Map will put and end to Jewish suffering, which consists of public concerns, internal political conflicts, a collapse of spirits, and the floundering economy of the Jewish state, as a result of the Palestinian armed resistance in the second Intifada.

As for the Palestinian side, there is no doubt that the Palestinian National Authority faces severe embarrassment in the face of its people, for it has failed over the years during the process of peaceful negotiations. Their only outcome was playing the role of the whip in the hands of the executioner, acting as a puppet for Israel and helping the occupation.

This isn't a 'road map' in reality, but it is a declaration of the death of the Arabs and precursor to the collective actions of the Arabs and Muslims, and it is crucial that the peoples within the region are aware of what is being plotted for them. It is not simply any 'road map', but in fact it is a road map for the eventual elimination of a viable political, cultural, and religious existence in the Arab and Islamic world, and in practice only a prelude to the establishment of Greater Israel according to the prophecies of the Torah and the Gospel.

Annapolis Conference

In 2007, former President George W. Bush called to convene a peace conference, known as the Annapolis Conference, to pick up on talks towards reaching a two-state solution.

Marathon negotiations were launched between the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas and former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and in the end of 2008, negotiations were suspended because of the Israeli war on Gaza. However, even before that, it was on the verge of ending, and both sides exchanged accusations of obstructing the negotiations.

The Israeli government has changed and so has the American administration, and the Palestinians demanded that there be a full halt on the building of settlements before returning to negotiations with the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu refused this and encouraged the continual building of settlements, but was faced by the pressures of the United States and Barack Obama who supported the Palestinian position of ending settlement activity.

The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has admitted to the failure of 18 years of negotiations, stressing that President Mahmoud Abbas has reached the conviction that it is impossible to establish a Palestinian state in the era of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The United States attempted to fix the situation and suggested indirect negotiations in order to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties. The Palestinians and the Arab countries agreed. However, during that time, Israel announced the construction of 1600 housing units in March 2009, thus insulting the United States and placing the Palestinians in an awkward position for initially expressing the refusal to make any negotiations as a result of the Israeli insistence on expanding settlements in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority agreed later on to start negotiations for a period of only 4 months in order to reach a solution to a stagnant crisis and real access to the desired peace.

Despite the elapse of long years since the start of the first round of negotiations between the Palestinians and the "Israelis", we Palestinians did not gain ******** that we can possibly build upon. The completion of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, the return of refugees to their homes, and the release of prisoners from Israeli jails were all prerequisites that the Palestinian negotiator has set from the beginning of the negotiation process, but regardless of promises that were made after each round of talks, we are back to square one and no progress has been made.


It must be indicated that the only positive outcome in the present time was the result of the indirect negotiation through the European mediator, where a video of the Israeli prisoner "Shalit", which was recorded to prove that he is alive, was exchanged with 19 female Palestinian Political Prisoners, one of them with her prison-born child. Many paradoxes are evident to every observer of the Palestinian scene, particularly with the negotations. They clearly reflect that the Israeli Occupation can give up and compromise if faced with a strong and rights-upholding opponent, and that the Palestinian negotationor can grab onto his legitimate rights if he is stronger, more determined, and isn't easily influenced by the great pressures and obstacles that he may face

Negotiations
Until when??!! And where??!