Fathom Journal Issue 21
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Raphael Cohen-Almagor Abstract This Article Records
1 “The Oslo Peace Process: Interview with Joel Singer”, Israel Affairs (published online 24 August 2018). DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2018.15056871 Raphael Cohen-Almagor Abstract This article records my interview with one of the authors of the Oslo Accords: Mr Joel Singer who was brought to the negotiations from Washington at a later stage of the negotiations. The Oslo channel was established by Yossi Beilin, Terje Rød-Larsen and Yoel Hirschfeld who understood Yassir Arafat’s need to initiate a new path for relationships with Israel. At that time, negotiations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) were illegal. The PLO was regarded as a terrorist organization and the Israeli government refused to officially negotiate with Arafat, although it was clear to them that he was still the most capable person to strike a deal, and the only true representative of the Palestinian people. Bilateral negotiations begun in Washington between Israel and Palestinians who were supposedly independent of the PLO while everyone knew they were not. As mentioned above, these talks led to nowhere. This is Singer’s version of this peace chapter. The article assesses the positive and negative aspects, lessons and implications of the process and of the Oslo Accords. Keywords: Joel Singer, Yasser Arafat, PLO, Israel, Oslo Accords, peace process Introduction Over the past few years I am researching the failed peace process between Israel and the PLO, from Oslo 1993 until present time. Regarding Oslo I investigate how three 1 This interview is taken froM My book, From Oslo to Jerusalem: A Critical Study of Peace Mediation, Facilitation and Negotiations between Israel and the PLO (NY and CaMbridge: CaMbridge University Press, forthcoMing). -
General Assembly Security Council Seventy-First Session Seventy-First Year Items 15, 17, 34, 60, 109 and 127 of the Provisional Agenda*
United Nations A/71/366–S/2016/723 General Assembly Distr.: General 23 August 2016 Security Council Original: English General Assembly Security Council Seventy-first session Seventy-first year Items 15, 17, 34, 60, 109 and 127 of the provisional agenda* The role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order Macroeconomic policy questions The situation in the Middle East Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources Measures to eliminate international terrorism Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations Letter dated 19 August 2016 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Mauritania to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General I have the honour to forward to you a letter dated 14 August 2016 from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to which are attached the resolutions issued by the Arab League Council at its 27th ordinary session, held at the summit level in Nouakchott on 25 July 2016 (see annex). I should be grateful if the present letter and its annex could be circulated as a document of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, under items 15, 17, 34, 60, 109 and 127 of the provisional agenda, and of the Security Council. (Signed) El Hacen Eleyatt Chargé d’affaires a.i. Chairman of the 27th ordinary session of the Arab League Council held at the summit level in Mauritania on 25 July 2016 * A/71/150. -
Israeli–Palestinian Peacemaking January 2019 Middle East and North the Role of the Arab States Africa Programme
Briefing Israeli–Palestinian Peacemaking January 2019 Middle East and North The Role of the Arab States Africa Programme Yossi Mekelberg Summary and Greg Shapland • The positions of several Arab states towards Israel have evolved greatly in the past 50 years. Four of these states in particular – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and (to a lesser extent) Jordan – could be influential in shaping the course of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. • In addition to Egypt and Jordan (which have signed peace treaties with Israel), Saudi Arabia and the UAE, among other Gulf states, now have extensive – albeit discreet – dealings with Israel. • This evolution has created a new situation in the region, with these Arab states now having considerable potential influence over the Israelis and Palestinians. It also has implications for US positions and policy. So far, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Jordan have chosen not to test what this influence could achieve. • One reason for the inactivity to date may be disenchantment with the Palestinians and their cause, including the inability of Palestinian leaders to unite to promote it. However, ignoring Palestinian concerns will not bring about a resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which will continue to add to instability in the region. If Arab leaders see regional stability as being in their countries’ interests, they should be trying to shape any eventual peace plan advanced by the administration of US President Donald Trump in such a way that it forms a framework for negotiations that both Israeli and Palestinian leaderships can accept. Israeli–Palestinian Peacemaking: The Role of the Arab States Introduction This briefing forms part of the Chatham House project, ‘Israel–Palestine: Beyond the Stalemate’. -
Palestinian Economic Development: Israeli Actions in Light of the 1994 Paris Protocol and International Economic Law Vincent El Hayek
University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository Minnesota Journal of International Law 2015 Palestinian Economic Development: Israeli Actions in Light of the 1994 Paris Protocol and International Economic Law Vincent El Hayek Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mjil Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Hayek, Vincent El, "Palestinian Economic Development: Israeli Actions in Light of the 1994 Paris Protocol and International Economic Law" (2015). Minnesota Journal of International Law. 286. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mjil/286 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Minnesota Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Minnesota Journal of International Law collection by an authorized administrator of the Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Palestinian Economic Development: Israeli Actions in Light of the 1994 Paris Protocol and International Economic Law Vincent El Hayek In 1993, Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed the Oslo Accords,' starting a peace process that was meant to end with a Palestinian State. The Oslo Accords were only the start of numerous agreements, including the 1994 Gaza-Jericho Agreement, which became Annex IV to the Accords, commonly known as the Paris Protocol.2 The Paris Protocol laid out the framework for what was to be the economic relationship between Israel and a Palestinian state. Its writers recognized the importance that stability and growth in the Palestinian economy had for any hope of a lasting peace. 3 As such, they developed a strategy which hinged on four "pillars" for Palestinian economic development: 11] International aid; [2] close Israeli-Palestinian economic relations; [3] foreign and private investment; and [4] access to foreign markets for Palestinian exports.4 When the Paris Protocol was first signed, excitement was high. -
An Israeli-Palestinian Confederation: a Viable Alternative for the “Two States Solution”?
An Israeli-Palestinian Confederation: A viable alternative for the “two states solution”? Friedrich Naumann STIFTUNG FÜR DIE FREIHEIT HKS 92 (grau) CMYK 10, 0, 5, 65 HKS 44 (blau) CMYK 100, 50, 0, 0 An Israeli-Palestinian Confederation: A viable alternative for the “two states solution”? Table of Contents Introductory Note Yair Hirschfeld .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 An Israeli-Palestinian Confederation: A viable alternative for the “two states solution”? Eran Etzion ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Israel and Palestine: For and Against the Idea of a Confederation Yair Hirschfeld .............................................................................................................................................................. 20 About the writers ................................................................................................................................................. 31 The repeated failure of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations during the last decades, regional unrest and destabilization throughout the Middle East have contributed to a diminished public belief and confidence in the viability of a peaceful Israel-Palestine two state solution. Through the encouragement and support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, the S. -
Who Needs Norwegians?" Explaining the Oslo Back Channel: Norway’S Political Past in the Middle East
Evaluation Report 9/2000 Hilde Henriksen Waage "Norwegians? Who needs Norwegians?" Explaining the Oslo Back Channel: Norway’s Political Past in the Middle East A report prepared by PRIO International Peace Research Institute, Oslo Institutt for fredsforskning Responsibility for the contents and presentation of findings and recommendations rests with the author. The views and opinions expressed in the report do not necessarily correspond with the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Preface In September 1998, I was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to carry out a preliminary study looking into Norway’s role in the Middle East. According to the agreement with the Ministry, the study should focus on the years prior to 1993 and examine whether Norway’s political past in the Middle East – and, not least, the mediating and confidence-building efforts of Norwegians prior to the opening of the secret Oslo Back Channel – had had any influence on the process that followed. The study should also try to answer the question ‘Why Norway?’ – that is, what had made Norway, of all countries, suitable for such an extraordinary task? The work on the study started on 15 September 1998. The date of submission was stipulated as 15 April 2000. This was achieved. The following report is based on recently declassified and partly still classified documents (to which I was granted access) at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the verbatim records of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, records of government proceedings and the Norwegian Parliament, Labour Party Archives, documents from the US State Department and the Socialist International – to mention the most important. -
The Gulf States and the Middle East Peace Process: Considerations, Stakes, and Options
ISSUE BRIEF 08.25.20 The Gulf States and the Middle East Peace Process: Considerations, Stakes, and Options Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Ph.D, Fellow for the Middle East conflict, the Gulf states complied with and INTRODUCTION enforced the Arab League boycott of Israel This issue brief examines where the six until at least 1994 and participated in the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council— oil embargo of countries that supported 1 Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates 1973, for example, the president of the (UAE)—currently stand in their outlook and UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, approaches toward the Israeli-Palestinian claimed that “No Arab country is safe from issue. The first section of this brief begins by the perils of the battle with Zionism unless outlining how positions among the six Gulf it plays its role and bears its responsibilities, 2 states have evolved over the three decades in confronting the Israeli enemy.” In since the Madrid Conference of 1991. Section Kuwait, Sheikh Fahd al-Ahmad Al Sabah, a two analyzes the degree to which the six brother of two future Emirs, was wounded Gulf states’ relations with Israel are based while fighting with Fatah in Jordan in 3 on interests, values, or a combination of 1968, while in 1981 the Saudi government both, and how these differ from state to offered to finance the reconstruction of state. Section three details the Gulf states’ Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor after it was 4 responses to the peace plan unveiled by destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. -
Northern Stage Presents the Winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play
NORTHERN STAGE PRESENTS THE WINNER OF THE 2017 TONY AWARD FOR BEST PLAY ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT J.T. Rogers is a multiple award-winning, internationally recognized American playwright who lives in New York. His plays include Oslo, Blood and Gifts, The Overwhelming, White People, and Madagascar. In May 2017, Rogers won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play, and the 2017 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, all for Oslo. Oslo was nominated for seven 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Play, as well as two 2017 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Play. It ultimately won the Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. In 2017, Oslo also won the Obie Award for Best New American Theatre Work. “As a playwright, I look to tell stories that are framed against great political rupture. I am obsessed with putting characters onstage who struggle with, and against, cascading world events — and who are changed forever through that struggle. While journalism sharpens our minds, the theater can expand our sense of what it means to be human. It is where we can come together in a communal space to hear ideas that grip us, surprise us — even infuriate us — as we learn of things we didn’t know. For me, that is a deeply, thrillingly, political act.” TERMS TO KNOW ● PLO: Palestine Liberation Organization. The PLO represents the world’s Palestinians (Arabs who lived in Palestine before the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel). -
S/PV.8717 the Situation in the Middle East, Including the Palestinian Question 11/02/2020
United Nations S/ PV.8717 Security Council Provisional Seventy-fifth year 8717th meeting Tuesday, 11 February 2020, 10 a.m. New York President: Mr. Goffin ..................................... (Belgium) Members: China ......................................... Mr. Zhang Jun Dominican Republic ............................. Mr. Singer Weisinger Estonia ........................................ Mr. Jürgenson France ........................................ Mr. De Rivière Germany ...................................... Mr. Schulz Indonesia. Mr. Djani Niger ......................................... Mr. Aougi Russian Federation ............................... Mr. Nebenzia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ................... Ms. King South Africa ................................... Mr. Mabhongo Tunisia ........................................ Mr. Ladeb United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .. Ms. Pierce United States of America .......................... Mrs. Craft Viet Nam ...................................... Mr. Dang Agenda The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room -
Just Below the Surface: Israel, the Arab Gulf States and the Limits of Cooperation
Middle East Centre JUST BELOW THE SURFACE ISRAEL, THE ARAB GULF STATES AND THE LIMITS OF COOPERATION IAN BLACK LSE Middle East Centre Report | March 2019 About the Middle East Centre The Middle East Centre builds on LSE’s long engagement with the Middle East and provides a central hub for the wide range of research on the region carried out at LSE. The Middle East Centre aims to enhance understanding and develop rigorous research on the societies, economies, polities and international relations of the region. The Centre promotes both special- ised knowledge and public understanding of this crucial area, and has outstanding strengths in interdisciplinary research and in regional expertise. As one of the world’s leading social science institutions, LSE comprises departments covering all branches of the social sciences. The Middle East Centre harnesses this expertise to promote innova- tive research and training on the region. Middle East Centre Just Below the Surface: Israel, the Arab Gulf States and the Limits of Cooperation Ian Black LSE Middle East Centre Report March 2019 About the Author Ian Black is a former Middle East editor, diplomatic editor and European editor for the Guardian newspaper. He is currently Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. His latest book is entitled Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917–2017. Abstract For over a decade Israel has been strengthening links with Arab Gulf states with which it has no diplomatic relations. Evidence of a convergence of Israel’s stra- tegic views with those of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain has accumulated as all displayed hostility to Iran’s regional ambitions and to United States President Barack Obama’s policies during the Arab Spring. -
Isratin: the One-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
Isratin: The One-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Ken-Ben Chao War in the 20th Century Mr. John Bickel January 6, 2011 An anxious crowd of two hundred and fifty people gathered and waited outside the Tel Aviv Museum on May 14, 1948. Within the next thirty-two minutes, the State of Israel was formally established. After nearly two millennia in exile, the Jewish homeland was reborn. The next day, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq attacked Israel, prompting the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Within the next sixty years, several other wars would be fought over the Israeli-Palestinian question. Today, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, or Arab-Israeli Conflict, remains a critical obstacle to world peace and stability in the Middle East. Though peace talks have been in progress for decades, numerous issues continue to obstruct success in the negotiations. If a viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is not created and implemented, the conflict will continue to plague the region with terrorism and war. Despite many proposed solutions, obstacles such as Jerusalem, the Israeli settlements, and Palestinian terrorism impede significant progress in the peace talks. With the numerous issues regarding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the best solution is a gradual reintegration of Palestinians into the Holy Land, a relaxation of tensions between the various factions, and the beginning of serious negotiations towards an eventual one-state solution. History In order to fully comprehend the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an understanding of the region’s bloody history must first be attained. The origin of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict goes as far back as the Biblical era. -
David Makovsky: Exploring the Two-State Solution
DAVID MAKOVSKY: EXPLORING THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION Joshua Holo: Welcome to the College Commons Podcast, passionate perspectives from Judaism's leading thinkers, brought to you by the Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, America's first Jewish institution of higher learning. My name is Joshua Holo, Dean of HUC's Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles, and your host. You're listening to a special episode recorded at Symposium 2, a conference held in Los Angeles at Stephen Wise Temple in November of 2018. It's my great pleasure to welcome Mr. David Makovsky to the College Commons Podcast. David Makovsky is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute. He's also an adjunct lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He served as senior advisor in the Office of the Secretary of State in 2013 and '14, working with the envoy for Israeli- Palestinian negotiations. David Makovsky, it's such a pleasure to have you. Thank you for joining us. David Makovsky: So glad to be with you. JH: The first question I wanna ask is one of the primary topics of your work, which is the two- state solution. Depending on what I'm reading from your writings, sometimes I get the sense that your support for the two-state solution boils down to a sense that it's the least infeasible option. Is that unfair of me, is that accurate or partially fair? DM: I mean, I like to say there's just too much history and too little geography.