August 20, 1993: Oslo Accords Completed The Oslo Accords, the first of which was signed on September 13, 1993, were a historic turning point in Arab-Israeli relations. The Oslo Accords were hammered out in complete secrecy in Oslo, Norway, by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators who were acting without intermediaries. The Oslo Accords forced both sides to come to terms with each other’s existence. Israel agreed to recognize Yasser Arafat as its partner in peace talks, and agreed to recognize Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by beginning to withdraw from the cities of Gaza and Jericho, which was essentially exchanging land for peace. In return, the Palestinians recognized Israel’s right to exist while also renouncing the use of terrorism and its long-held call for the destruction of Israel. In 1994, Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in the first Oslo Accord. The first Oslo Accord sketched out a peace process that had a two-phase timetable. During a five-year interim period, the Oslo Accord envisioned a series of step-by-step measures that would build trust and partnership. Palestinians would police their own territories, the ones they controlled, cooperate with Israel in the fight against terrorism, and amend the sections of the Palestine Liberation Organization Charter that called for Israel’s destruction. Israel would almost entirely withdraw from Gaza and in stages from parts of the West Bank. An elected Palestinian Authority would take over governing the territories from which Israel withdrew. After this five-year interim period, negotiators would then determine a final peace agreement to resolve the toughest issues, which were final borders, security arrangements, Jerusalem, whether the Palestinians would have an independent state, Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, and Palestinian refugees’ claims to land and property left behind when they fled Israel. The post August 20, 1993: Oslo Accords Completed appeared first on Jspace News. ift.tt/1rUtX0n
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 21:12:53 +0000
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