In 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation signed the Declaration of Principles, which aimed to peacefully resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Though it was supposed to be a significant step towards peace, for the Palestinians, it came with a hidden cost.
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Area C represents 60 percent of the West Bank. Under the Oslo Accords, control of this area was supposed to be handed over to the PA. Instead, Israel retains total control over all matters, including security, planning and construction. The transfer of control to the PA has never happened.
The agreements signed between Arafat and Rabin in 1993 and 1995 were controversial for many Israelis and Palestinians. Right-wing Israelis were opposed to signing any deal with the PLO, a group it considered a terrorist organisation – even though Arafat had renounced violence. Israeli settlers feared that Rabin's so-called ‘land-for-peace’ formula would result in their eviction from land they regard as theirs by Biblical right, despite the UN’s position that Israeli settlements have been built in violation of international law.
Among Palestinians, supporters of the Oslo Accords reasoned it was a compromise that could lead to peace. Fatah, the largest faction in the PLO at the time, supported Oslo. But other political parties outside of the PLO, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, opposed the Accords and warned that a two-state solution would betray the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to the land taken from them during the 1948 Nakba.
Thus the Oslo Accords had its sceptics on both sides, and their number only grew as the process failed to deliver on its promise. Many believe that Israel has benefited the most since negotiations began in 1993. |
