Whilst having moved from Palestine, to Jordan and then to Lebanon, the PLO continued to attack Israel and focused its new tactics on terrorist attacks and aeroplane abduction. Frustrated and desperate to raise the profile of the Palestinian struggle the PLO began launching attacks on civilian targets such as airports, schools and apartment blocks in the 1970's. Perhaps the most famous example is the Munich Massacre where 11 Olympic athletes from Israel were taken hostage and, as a result of a blotched German rescue, killed. The next two decades were marred with violence and conflict. The intifada (Palestinian uprisings) were renowned for stone-throwing groups of youth against armed Israeli soldiers. Hamas was also founded during this time; this group is more concerned with "armed resistance" and carry out acts of terrorism against civilians. The PLO (and their leader Arafat) were recognised as supporting Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait during the Gulf War 1990-1991. The opposition of US intervention by the PLO resulted in many Arab countries (such as Egypt and many other oil-rich countries) severing ties with Palestine and thousands of Palestinians being expelled from Kuwait. In addition any funding for the PLO was removed as they were no longer seen as a partner of peace.
In 1993 Arafat sent a letter to the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin recognising Israels right to exist and renouncing terrorism. This marked the beginning of the Oslo Peace Process during which negotiations were made towards a two-state solution. In exchange for its own police force, control over certain areas (in West Bank and the Gaza strip), autonomy over legislation etc the Palestinian authorities had to promote acceptance of Israelis and recognise their right to exist. However, the terrorist attacks continued and it was even suspected that these were encouraged by the Palestinian Authority. These allegations were denied by the PA who said that the Israelis had not conceded enough territory to ensure contentment amongst the Palestinians. Once again, violence mounted and suicide bombings along with other terrorist attacks became common.
As a result of these negotiations, which were not seen as desirable by all, intra-faction conflict also occured.Yitzhak Rabin was assinated by a Jewish right-wing radical in 1995. Despite efforts by Shimon Peres to continue negotiations in Rabin's place, the Israeli people voted for Benjamin Netanyahu in the following election due to his commitment to more direct negotiations with the PLO. He disagreed with the notion of granting concessions to the Palestinian people without anything tangible in return in order to build "goodwill".
Meanwhile, a wave of suicide bombings, orchestrated by Hamas, swept through Israel in response to the assination of the Hamas chief bomb-maker. However, this was objected to by the PLO who began attempts to oppress the violence agenda of Hamas. Having failed to do this effectively, Israel sent two secret agents to assassinate the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashal. Complication arose during the attempt and a compromise was established; the return of the captured agents for the antidote to the poison (thus saving Mashal's life) and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
As the violence continued (despite Israels withdrawal from occupied Lebanon) with little hope for diplomacy, in July 2000 the Camp David 2000 Summit was held which was aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement. The summit collapsed after Yasser Arafat would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators. Barak (the newly elected Israeli leader) was prepared to offer the entire Gaza Strip, a Palestinian capital in a part of East Jerusalem, 73% of the West Bank (excluding eastern Jerusalem) raising to 90-94% after 10–25 years, and financial reparations for Palestinian refugees for peace. Arafat turned down the offer without making a counter-offer.
No comments:
Post a Comment