Palestinians’ Lost Hopes On The 30th Anniversary Of The Oslo Accords

The core issues of the problem would be resolved through negotiations that would last only five more years, and in the meantime, autonomy would be achieved with the Palestinian Authority. Today, almost 10 years after the complete collapse of peace talks, the Palestinian Authority is still in place, but it is losing legitimacy.

With its lively restaurants, bustling shopping malls, and ongoing new construction, the city of Ramallah has become synonymous with the Palestinian Authority. After a series of agreements known as the Oslo Accords were signed on the White House lawn in 1993, foreign aid money flowed into this West Bank city north of Jerusalem.

The Streets Of The City Are Full Of Stylish Ministry Buildings.

But Palestinians now realize that this is just the surface. The Palestinian Authority had to be replaced by an elected government and a state to be established in the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. This dream has never been as distant as it is today.

“Business is bad and going backwards,” says middle-aged Um Nabil, who is shopping in Ramallah’s Manara Square. “Our lives are full of instability right now.”

Public opinion polls initially showed that Palestinian support for the Oslo Accords was two to three. However, the great optimism created by the agreements was replaced by deep pessimism.

“The biggest perception right now is that the Palestinian leadership made a big mistake 30 years ago,” says Khalil Shikaki, an experienced Palestinian opinion poll expert.

“It is a very serious situation that the two-state solution is no longer seen as a viable plan. “It makes a lot of people depressed.”

The reality of life for Palestinians is an overwhelming military occupation. No matter which way they go out of Ramallah, they encounter Israeli checkpoints, soldiers and Jewish settlements.

In 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed, there were just over 110,000 settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Today, this number is more than 700 thousand. Jewish settlements are against international law, but Israel has always opposed this.

Now the most hardline government ever runs the country. Religious and nationalist ministers advocate annexing the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian administration is weak and lacking initiatives to stop Israeli expansion into lands desired for a future Palestinian state. They are seen as corrupt, authoritarian and often an instrument of Israeli occupation.

There is outrage over the Israeli Army’s coordination with Palestinian Authority security forces during operations to arrest Palestinians for allegedly planning attacks against Israel.

People also see high salaries for senior Palestinian Authority officials and VIP passes that allow them and their families to move more freely under Israeli restrictions. They believe that they use their positions to enable their acquaintances to obtain such permits, obtain public employment, and receive contracts.

According to Shikaki’s polls, 60% of Palestinians see the Palestinian Authority as a burden. In fact, in a poll six months ago, a narrow majority said they believed the collapse of the administration would serve the national interest.

After Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 War, military governors began to govern these areas directly. Meanwhile, East Jerusalem was annexed to Israel, but the international community did not recognize this annexation.

Thanks to the Oslo Accords, leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), recognized by Israel as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people, returned from exile. The PLO also recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace.

With Yasser Arafat coming to power, the newly established Palestinian Authority began to take over basic services such as health, education and security in Gaza and the West Bank. 60% of the West Bank was under full Israeli control, but the Palestinians hoped to expand this area over time.

It only took a few years for the progress to end. After the collapse of the Camp David peace talks in 2000, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque caused great anger among Palestinians.

After the second Palestinian intifada that followed, the peace process collapsed and the hardline Israeli right gained strength. Although peace talks were later initiated through the USA, the last round of these talks collapsed in 2014.

I met Sabri Saidam in his comfortable office in Ramallah. Saidam is a former Palestinian Authority Minister of Education and now Deputy Secretary General of the Fatah Central Committee. He rejects the idea that the administration is ineffective and calls its establishment a “turning point.” Saidam sends the message that strengthening the Palestinian Authority preserves the possibility of a two-state solution.

“It’s not over yet, but it has become an achievement that the Palestinian people want to preserve,” he says, explaining how the Palestinian Authority is consolidating Palestinian identity.

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