Costly Lessons of the Oslo Accords

By: Rifa Berliana Arifin, Chief Editor of Arabic MINA, OIC Youth Expert Council, Head of Foreign Relations of the Indonesian Cyber Media Network (JMSI).

30 years ago on September 13, 1993, the Oslo Accords signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli Zionist regime ‘deceitfully’ led to the beginning of an unfortunate and dark episode in the dream of establishing a free and independent Palestinian state.

The agreement indirectly and unconsciously confirmed the existence of the illegitimate state of Israel in addition to its main purpose was to stop the opposition of the Palestinian fighters and people who rose so violently against the occupation of the Israeli Zionist regime at that time.

Seeing such a great awakening, the Israeli Zionist regime through the United States has hastily recommended the Oslo Accords. As is common today, the Israeli Zionist regime and the West have sown various promises to Palestine including Palestine being granted the right to govern its own territory and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Thus, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is perceived by the Israeli and Western Zionist regimes, is like a ‘toothless gum’ that is unable to do anything besides giving the Palestinian Authority (PA) 5 years to implement administration in the Palestinian territories, which covertly and unnoticed has given access to the Israeli Zionist regime to continue to invade and seize land belonging to the Palestinian people.

The result is that after the Oslo Accords were signed, the Israeli Zionist regime was more rampant and acted more violently. More Palestinians were arrested and killed, their movements were blocked and oppressed in various ways, the products and natural resources of the Palestinian land were greedily extracted in addition to their homes, businesses and land being confiscated so that only 20 percent of the original Palestinian land was occupied by the Palestinian people.

As a result, the situation in Palestine got worse and gradually the Palestinian people rose up again against the Israeli Zionist regime. In fact, nothing has been successfully resolved with the Israeli Zionist regime after the implementation of the Oslo Accords, instead it has strengthened the grip and expanded the colonization of the Israeli Zionist regime over Palestine in addition to strengthening the position of the West in the Middle East.

Seeing that the situation was again precarious, the West, especially the United States under its then President Bill Clinton, had also recommended the Camp David Summit held in the United States from July 11 to 25, 2000 which aimed to resolve the Palestinian- Israeli Zionist regime dispute with the attendance of Palestinian Authority Chairman and PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister of the illegal state of Israel at that time Ehud Barak.

The Camp David summit which was supposed to end with an agreement did not come to fruition as it was reported that nothing was agreed upon by both sides especially on the Palestinian side following which no pledge was made to establish a free and independent Palestinian state with Baitul Maqdis as its capital and to allow the return of Palestinian refugees to Palestine.

In fact, the Israeli Zionist regime directly did not fulfill any of its promises agreed upon in the Oslo Accords but abused them every time. It has caused the anger of the Palestinian people who feel they are being played in addition to feeling that the dignity and sovereignty of their homeland is being surrendered to the Israeli Zionist regime colonizers by the West.

As a result, the Second Intifada by the Palestinian people began on September 28, 2000 after Ariel Sharon, who was the leader of the dissident party in the Knesset of the illegal state of Israel at the time, made a ‘provocative incursion’ into the compound of the Aqsa Mosque which led to massive protests and riots that resulted in fighting between the Palestinian people and the Israeli Zionist regime police.

In essence, no one can be trusted when entering into agreements with either the Israeli Zionist regime or its ‘masters’ from the West. Look at Palestine today, just a few kerats away from disappearing from the world map. With treaties signed and dozens of resolutions passed by the United Nations, the situation in Palestine is getting worse as the Israeli Zionist regime continues to grow and prosper.

Not only with Palestine and its people but the Israeli Zionist regime with the rule and control of its ‘masters’ from the West but also signed agreements with other Middle Eastern countries:

1949 armistice agreement

It was a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli Zionist regime and Egypt, Lubnan, Jordan and Syria following the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 due to the establishment of the illegal state of Israel after Palestine was handed over to them.

The treaty also established a temporary border line known as the Green Lane between the illegal state of Israel and Jordan, Lubnan and Egypt as well as Palestine which at the time was known as Mandatory Palestine because it was under British rule.

Geneva Trial 1973

The conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland to seek a settlement and end the Arab-Israeli regime conflict following resolution 338 of the United Nations Security Council on October 22, 1973 which called for a ceasefire following the Yom Kippur war.

Egypt and the Israeli Zionist regime accepted the resolution but it was rejected by Syria, Lubnan and Iraq as well as the PLO. It was also during this agreement that the Soviet Union (Russia) last played a leading role alongside the United States in the Arab-Palestinian peace mission following the Soviet Union-United States feud in the Cold War.

Camp David Accords 1978

This agreement can be said to be the first attempt of the Zionist regime of Israel and the United States in normalizing relations between Arab countries and the illegitimate state of Israel. The agreement was signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after 12 days of difficult negotiations at the White House, witnessed by US President Jimmy Carter.

However, Egypt’s actions in holding negotiations with the United States were not approved by other Arab countries such as Syria, Lubnan and Libya, instead European countries such as Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Albania, known as the Warsaw Alliance, criticized Egypt’s role. The Palestinian resistance groups were also not satisfied with Egypt’s actions and threatened to attack Egypt.

As a result, NATO directed its troops to be prepared for any eventuality. Hungary, Yugoslavia and East Germany also threatened to attack Egypt if it entered into a peace agreement with the Zionist regime of Israel. The Soviet Union, Finland, Poland and Romania threatened to attack NATO if Cuba showed power in the Middle East and other Arab countries labeled Egypt as a traitor to Islam and Arab countries.

However, the agreement continued where Anwar Sadat eventually became the first Middle Eastern leader to visit the illegitimate state of Israel and also spoke in the Israeli Knesset.

Just as Donald Trump when he became President of the United States sought a campaign of normalization of relations between Arab countries and the illegal state of Israel, it was actually started by Jimmy Carter because when the Kem David agreement was signed, he had just become President of the United States and normalization was one of the main agendas of his campaign when competing in the United States elections before that, just like Donald Trump.

Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty

This agreement was signed on October 26, 1994 in Aqabah, Jordan. It is a peace agreement between Jordan and the Israeli Zionist regime that ended the dispute between the two countries since the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

This agreement also made Jordan the second country from the Middle East to sign a peace treaty with the illegal state of Israel after Egypt and ended the conflict between the two countries regarding borders and land property rights in addition to establishing various cooperation between the two countries.

So it can be argued that none of these agreements benefit Middle Eastern countries, especially Palestine, because the Israeli Zionist regime and its Western ‘masters’ always manipulate and take advantage of every agreement in order to benefit and strengthen their grip and position both in Palestine and the Middle East in general.

But today there seems to be a clear awareness in the Middle East and Palestine as there are already signs of a clear awakening of strong opposition to both the Israeli and Western Zionist regimes. What is certain is that if the Middle East countries are ‘free’ from the grip of the West, it will indirectly strengthen the opposition of Palestine and its people to the Israeli Zionist regime which will lead to the ‘independence’ of Palestine.

It is time for the Middle Eastern countries in particular to play a leading role in the Palestine issue and to liberate Palestine and its people from the occupation of the Israeli Zionist regime. Clearly, the Israeli Zionist regime and the West should not be trusted in any way in the effort to liberate the land of Palestine.

Enough of being manipulated, tricked and played with so far, the Islamic World needs to rise again to defend and liberate the land of Palestine and its people. With a strong unity among the countries of the Islamic World in addition to continuous efforts to defend the fate of the Palestinian people, Insha-Allah the land of Palestine and the Middle East can be liberated from the Zionist regime of Israel and the West. (A/RA1/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)