#7: From Oslo to the Second Intifada

How Did We Get Here?
A History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

7. From Oslo to the Second Intifada

This is the seventh in a series of eight lectures, sponsored by A Jewish Voice for Peace. This lecture was videotaped on Dec. 2, 2002. The lecturers are George Bisharat and Joel Beinin.

About George Bisharat and Joel Beinin

George Bisharat is Professor at UC Hastings. His study of the impact of Israeli occupation on the Palestinian legal profession of the West Bank, Palestinian Lawyers and Israeli Rule: Law and Disorder in the West Bank, was published in 1989. In recent years, Professor Bisharat has consulted with the Palestinian Legislative Council over the structure of the Palestinian judiciary, reforms in criminal procedure, and other aspects of legal development.

His books include:

Palestinian Lawyers and Israeli Rule: Law and Disorder in the West Bank (1990, University of Texas Press)

Joel Beinin is Professor of Middle East history at Stanford University. He is currently serving as the President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and is also involved with the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) and the Middle East Social and Cultural History Association.

His books include:

Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882-1954 (1987, Princeton University Press; 2000, American University in Cairo Press; co-authored with Zachary Lockman)
Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Occupation (1989, South End Press; co-edited with Zachary Lockman)
Was the Red Flag Flying There? Marxist Politics and the Arab-Israeli Conflict in Egypt and Israel, 1948-1965 (1990, University of California Press)
Political Islam: Essays from Middle East Report (University of California Press, 1998; co-edited with Joe Stork)
The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (1998, University of California Press).
Workers and Peasants in the Modern Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Chronology

This chronology is largely derived from Charles Enderlin's Shattered Dreams, with additional material from the MidEastWeb's timeline and other sources. This provides significantly more detail than is provided in the lecture.

1980:
- June 13: Venice Declaration of the European Council on the Middle East, advocating two state solution.
1987:
- Dec.: First intifada begins.
1988:
- Jan.: Founding of Hamas Islamic Brotherhood.
- Apr. 16: Israel assassinates Khalil El-Wazir (Abu Jihad), Arafat's second-in-command, in Tunis.
- Nov. 15: PLO adopts two state plan; declares a Palestinian state in absentia.
1990:
- Aug.: Iraq invades and conquers Kuwait.
1991:
- Jan.: Operation Desert Storm ("Gulf War"). PLO, having supported Saddam Hussein, loses support from Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states.
- Oct. 30: Madrid Peace Conference, promoted by U.S. but excludes participation by PLO.
1992:
- June 23: Yitzhak Rabin elected Prime Minister of Israel, replacing Yitzhak Shamir.
1993:
- Feb.: Oslo secret meetings.
- Aug.: Oslo accords.
- Sept. 9-10: Mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO.
- Sept. 13: The "Oslo Accord," a declaration of principles, signed by Israel and the PLO in Washington.
1994:
- Feb. 25: Hebron settler Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Palestinians, wounds over 100, at prayer services in a Hebron mosque.
- Mar.-Apr.: Hamas suicide bombings.
- Oct. 26: Peace treaty signed between Israel and Jordan.
1995:
- Jan.-July: Terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad kill 95 Israelis.
- Sept. 28: Interim accord (Oslo II) between Israel and the PLO signed in Washington.
- Nov. 4: Yitzhak Rabin assassinated in Tel Aviv by Yigal Amir, a member of a far right religious party.
- Dec. 27-Feb. 25, 1996: Israeli-Syrian negotiations at Wye Plantation in the U.S.
1996:
- Jan. 5: Hamas bomb maker Yahya Ayyash ("the engineer") assassinated by Israel.
- Jan. 20: Palestinian general elections: Arafat elected chairman of the Palestinian Authority.
- Feb. 25: Hamas suicide bomber kills 26 Israelis in a bus in Jerusalem.
- Mar. 2-4: Four Hamas suicide bombs kill 59 Israelis. mall.
- Mar. 13: Summit of "peacemakers" at Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt condemns Islamic terrorism.
- Apr. 11: Israeli army launches Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
- Apr. 18: Israel kills 102 Lebanese refugees in Kfar Kana, in southern Lebanon.
- May 29: Benjamin Netanyahu elected Prime Minister of Israel.
- Sept. 23-Oct. 1: Armed clashes between Israel and Palestinians after opening of the underground passageway at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, killing 15 Israeli soldiers and 80 Palestinians.
1997:
- Jan. 17: Israel withdraws from part of Hebron.
- July 30: Two Hamas suicide bombers kill 13 Israelis in Jerusalem.
- Sept. 4: Three suicide bombers kill 5 Israelis in Jerusalem.
- Sept. 25: Mossad agents in Amman, Jordan try to murder Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.
- Oct. 1: Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin returns to Gaza after nine years in Israeli prisons.
1998:
- Oct. 23: Wye River accord signed by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasir Arafat in Washington.
- Dec. 14: Bill Clinton vists Gaza and addresses the Palestinian Authority leadership. The revocation of the PLO charter is confirmed.
1999:
- May 17: Ehud Barak elected Prime Minister of Israel.
- July 7: Ehud Barak takes office as Prime Minister of Israel.
- Dec. 15: Peace negotiations between Israel and Syria resume in Washington.
2000:
- Jan. 3: Israeli-Syrian negotiations at Shepherdstown in U.S., ending on Jan. 10. On Jan. 17, Syria indefinitely postpones a third round of talks.
- Mar. 21: Israel withdraws from 6.1 percent of the West Bank, two months behind schedule.
- May 10: Secret negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians begin in Sweden.
- May 24: Israeli army unilaterally withdraws from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation. This sudden move, without any negotiations or security guarantees, is widely seen as a victory for Hezbollah and the use of violent resistance against Israel.
- June 21: The left-wing secular Meretz Party leaves Barak's coalition.
- July 9: Barak loses his Knesset majority with the departure of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, the National Religious Party, and the Russian-language Israel B'Aliyah party.
- July 11-25: At Camp David, Barak and Arafat negotiate under the auspices of President Clinton but do not reach an accord.
- July 31: Barak barely survives two right-wing motions of censure.
- Sept. 28: Ariel Sharon's visit to the Haram el-Sharif/Temple Mount in Jerusalem leads to a wave of violence.
- Sept. 29: Israeli police kill 4 Palestinians and injure 160 at protests at the Haram el-Sharif/Temple Mount. This marks the start of the Second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada.
- Oct. 12: Two Israeli soldiers lynched in Ramallah by a Palestinian mob. Israel responds by bombing Palestinian Authority targets. Barak invites Likud to join a "national emergency government."
- Oct. 16-18: Sharm el-Sheik summit between Barak and Arafat, with Bill Clinton, Hosni Mubarak, Kofi Annan and Javier Solana taking part. Since the beginning of the Intifada, 127 Palestinians and 8 Israelis have been killed.
- Oct. 22: Barak announces an indefinite "pause" in the peace process.
- Nov. 28: Barak agrees to hold early elections.
- Dec. 9: Barak announces his resignation.
- Dec. 23: Clinton presents the Israelis and Palestinians with his parameters for an agreement on the final status.
2001:
- Jan. 1: Since the beginning of the Intifada, 227 Palestinians and 41 Israelis have been killed.
- Jan. 18-28: Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians at Taba in Egypt.
- Feb. 6: Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister of Israel.
- Feb. 14: In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian bus driver ploughs his vehicle into a waiting queue, killing 8 Israelis. Israel imposes a total blockade on the Palestinian territories.
- May 14: Israeli troops kill five Palestinian policemen manning a checkpoint in the West Bank. Combat helicopters bomb security targets in the Gaza Strip.
- May 18: A suicide bomber kills 5 Israelis in a shopping mall north of Tel Aviv. Israel retaliates by bombing targets in Ramallah and Nablus with F16 warplanes.
- June 1: A suicide bomber kills 19 Israelis at a discotheque in Tel Aviv.
- July 31: An Israeli combat helicopter launches rockets at the Hamas office in Nablus, killing 8 Palestinians.
- Aug. 9: Hamas retaliates: a suicide bomber kills 15 Israelis and tourists in a Jerusalem pizzeria.
- Aug. 10: Israeli helicopters destroy the headquarters of Palestinian police and security in Ramallah. Israeli police seize Orient House, the headquarters of the PLO in East Jerusalem.
- Aug. 26: After a Palestinian attacked an Israeli army post in the Gaza Strip on the previous day, F15 and F16 planes destroy Palestinian security installations in Gaza and the West Bank.
- Aug. 27: Abu Ali Mostafa, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), is killed in his office in Ramallah by an Israeli rocket.
- Oct. 17: The PFLP retailates by killing Rehavam Zeevi, Israeli minister of tourism and head of the extreme right-wing Moledet party, in Jerusalem.
- Oct.-Mar. 2002: Violence escalates. Repeated Palestinian suicide attacks create an atmosphere of deep anguish and insecurity in Israel, while Israeli retaliatory raids and incursions into area previously controlled by the Palestinian Authority inflict a growing number of casualties on the Palestinian populations and wreak havoc on the Palestinian economy.
2002:
- Mar. 27: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 29 Israelis and guests at a Passover seder in Netanya.
- Mar. 29: Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank, reoccupying all the major Palestinian cities. In Ramallah, Israeli troops lay siege to Arafat's presidential compound.
- Mar. 31: A suicide bomber kills 16 Israelis in Haifa.
- Apr. 2: Israeli tanks and infantry launch an attack on Bethelehem. Palestinian gunmen take refuge in the Church of the Nativity.
- Apr. 9: A fierce battle in the Jenin refugee camp leaves 15 Israeli soldiers and 53 Palestinians dead.
- Apr. 12: A suicide bomber kills 6 Israelis in a bus in Jerusalem.
- Apr. 15: Israel captures Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader, in Ramallah.
- May 2: End of siege of Arafat's compound in Ramallah.
- May 10: End of siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The gunmen are allowed to move to Gaza or abroad.
- June 5: A suicide bomber kills 17 Israelis on/near a bus in the Galilee. In retaliation, Israeli helicopter gunships attack Palestinian targets.
- June 6: Israeli tanks and bulldozers destroy part of Arafat's headquarters.
- June 18: A suicide bomber kills 20 Israelis on a bus in Jerusalem. Israel announces that it will reoccupy Palestinian territory in the West Bank and hold it indefinitely in reprisal for the bombing.
- July 16: Palestinian gunmen open fire on a bus and kill 8 Israeli settlers.
- July 22: Israel bombs Gaza City, killing Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh and 14 other Palestinians, including 9 children.
- July 31: A bomb explodes in the Hebrew University cafeteria, killing 4 Israelis and 5 US nationals.
- Sept. 21-30: The Israeli army traps Arafat in his Ramallah compound for ten days; the siege is ended under US pressure.
- Sept. 30: Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, 1599 Palestinians and 577 Israelis have been killed.

Glossary

Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
Bantustan: A popular term for the "homelands" set up by South Africa as part of its Apartheid regime, which provided a thin veneer of autonomy to disenfranchised black South Africans. While nominally independent, the Bantustans' sovereignty was severely circumscribed and subordinate to white South African control. Israel's policy of handing small, isolated areas of the West Bank has frequently been compared to South Africa's Bantustan policy.
Hamas: Palestinian Islamist group, founded by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin as an armed wing of the non-nationalist Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza in Aug. 1988. Opposed to secular PLO and Oslo peace process, which it has significantly damaged through its terrorist activities.
Islamic Jihad: Palestinian Islamist group, broke away from the Muslim Brotherhood in '80s to push an extreme program of anti-Israeli terrorism. Leader Fathi Abdul Aziz Shikaki killed by Israel in Malta in 1995.

Historical Figures:

Yasir Abed Rabbo (1945- ): former leader in Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP); member of PLO Executive Committee; head negotiatior for PA at Taba, Jan. 2001.
Yasir Arafat (1929- ): founder of Fatah in 1956; joined PLO in 1968, and led PLO through the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords; elected President of the Palestinian Authority, a post he still holds.
Ehud Barak (1942- ): after a legendary military career (elite units and special operations, including the 1988 assassination of Abu Jihad in Tunis, eventually rising to Chief of Staff), entered politics, becoming Prime Minister 1999-2001; opposed Oslo Peace Process, but oversaw Israel's initial withdrawals from Gaza/Jericho; refused to implement Wye River agreement, insisting on no further interim withdrawals until Final Status negotiations complete; failed at Camp David to reach Final Status agreement, which with the help of Bill Clinton he was able to blame squarely on Arafat, setting the stage for the second intifada -- an event triggered by his support for Ariel Sharon's provocative "visit" to the Temple Mount and the excessive violence of Israel's security forces in response to the following demonstrations. Before leaving office Barak withdrew all Israeli peace offers, ending the Oslo Peace Process (thus sparing Sharon the embarrassment).
Yossi Beilin (1948- ): a protege of Shimon Peres, initiated the Oslo negotiations, negotiated a set of final status guidelines in 1995 with Abu Mazen, and represented Israel at Taba, Jan. 2001, but had been excluded from the previous Camp David fiasco; Israeli Minister of Justice under Barak (1999-2001).
Benjamin Netanyahu (1949- ): Likud political leader, Prime Minister 1996-99; opposed Oslo Agreement, which he significantly undermined as Prime Minister.
Shimon Peres (1923- ): Israeli politician, Labor party Prime Minister 1986-88 and 1995-96; Foreign Minister under Likud-dominated "unity" governments led by Yitzhak Shamir and Ariel Sharon.
Yitzhak Rabin (1922-95): IDF chief of staff during 1967 war. Later Ambassador to U.S., Prime Minister (1974-77, 1992-95). Was Defense Minister during Intifada.
Ariel Sharon (1928- ): Israeli military leader and politician, responsible for a long string of atrocities including the 1953 Qibia raid and the 1982 Phalange massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut; architect of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; held various posts in Likud governments where he promoted Israel's settlement policy; his "visit" with 1000 security troops to the mosques in East Jerusalem triggered the second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada in 2000; elected Prime Minister in 2001, putting an end to the Oslo "peace process" and unleashing an unprecedented level of violence in Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; proclaimed "a man of peace" by George W. Bush.

Charts

This chart is from Johnston's Archive. While it only accounts for Israeli deaths from terrorism, it provides a graphic indication of how hostilities have varied over time: note that the first intifada period (1988-92) is little-if-any elevated over previous averages, that the 1994-96 period corresponds to the early Oslo period saw a sharp rise as Israel escalated its attacks on Hamas (and vice versa), and the tremendous increase in terrorist activity after Sharon came to power.