A Historical Analysis of the Failures of Camp David 2000 Summit
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A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FAILURE OF CAMP DAVID SUMMIT 2000 Ismail Yilmaz, B.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2005 APPROVED: Eric J. Fritsch, Major Professor Kall Loper, Committee Member John Liederbach, Committee Member Robert W. Taylor, Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice David W. Hartman, Dean of the School of Community Services Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Yilmaz, Ismail, A historical analysis of the failures of Camp David 2000 Summit. Master of Science (Criminal Justice), August 2005, 106 pp., references, 84 titles. This research seeks to understand the reasons for failures of Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat, and Ehud Barak’s Camp David Summit that was held in July, 2000. The Summit was arranged to complete the last phase of Oslo Peace Process. Numerous researches have attempted to reveal the facts of the summit but, so far, they have failed to present the complete details of what happened before, during, and after the summit. This research explores all aspects of the problem including the various variables that would have had effected the breakdown of the Middle East peace process. Finally, the researcher determines the parameters needed to maintain a substantial peace in the Middle East and what proposed strategies might be followed in order to avoid the previous mistakes in future peace negotiations. Copyright 2005 by Ismail Yilmaz ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the Turkish National Police for giving me with the opportunity to attend the Criminal Justice program at University of North Texas. I also owe a special thank to my thesis committee chair Dr. Eric J. Fritsch, and committee members Dr. Kall D. Loper and Dr. John Liederbach for their guidance and support in writing this thesis. Finally, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my wife Hulya for her great support, patience, and understanding and to my sons Suat and Sedat for the meaning they have brought to our family. iii ABBREVIATIONS UN United Nations PLO Palestine Liberation Organization PNA Palestinian National Authority PFLP Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP-GC Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine- General Command DFLP Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine PLF Palestine Liberation Front PIJ Palestinian Islamic Jihad IDF Israel Defense Force iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................................iiii ABBREVIATIONS ...........................................................................................................iv INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 Objectives and Research Question......................................................................... 4 BACKGROUND OF ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT ............................................................. 5 British Policies......................................................................................................... 6 Balfour Declaration.................................................................................................. 7 Mandates under the League of Nations .................................................................. 8 Palestine between World War I & II......................................................................... 8 Partition of Palestine ............................................................................................. 10 Aftermath of Arab-Israel War................................................................................. 11 Sinai Campaign..................................................................................................... 12 Terrorist Groups Leading to Unrest....................................................................... 12 Al-Fatah......................................................................................................... 13 Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) .................................................... 14 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)..................................... 15 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command (PFLP-GC) ...................................................................................................................... 15 Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)............................... 16 Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) ......................................................................... 17 Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) ................................................................... 18 Abu Nidal....................................................................................................... 18 Six Day War .......................................................................................................... 19 Black September................................................................................................... 20 Yom Kippur War.................................................................................................... 20 Camp David Accord 1978 ..................................................................................... 21 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.................................................................................... 22 Hezbollah .............................................................................................................. 23 1983 Attack on the Marine Barracks in Beirut ....................................................... 24 v Hostage Taking of Westerners.............................................................................. 24 Palestinian Uprising .............................................................................................. 25 Hamas................................................................................................................... 25 Oslo Accord........................................................................................................... 26 Kach and the Kahane Chai ................................................................................... 27 Failure of Arafat-Barak Negotiations at Camp David Summit 2000....................... 28 The Intifada 2000 and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.................................................. 29 Continuous Violence ............................................................................................. 30 Palestinian State and U.S. Road Map................................................................... 30 LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................. 32 Dennis Ross.......................................................................................................... 32 Robert Malley and Hussein Agha.......................................................................... 34 Jeremy Pressman ................................................................................................. 35 The Mitchell Report ............................................................................................... 38 Cheryl A. Rubenberg............................................................................................. 39 Nicholas Guyatt..................................................................................................... 40 Walid Khalidi ......................................................................................................... 41 Ziya Flamhaft ........................................................................................................ 42 Stephen Zunes...................................................................................................... 44 Scot Lasensky....................................................................................................... 45 Laura Eisenberg and Neil Caplan ......................................................................... 46 Harold Saunders ................................................................................................... 47 Daniel Heradstveit................................................................................................. 48 Summary............................................................................................................... 48 METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................... 50 Dependent and Independent Variables................................................................. 50 The Screening of Independent Variables .............................................................. 50 Methodology.......................................................................................................... 54 Limitations ............................................................................................................. 55 ANALYSIS OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ............................................................... 57 Leaders’ Perception and Belief System................................................................. 57 vi Ehud Barak ................................................................................................... 57 Barak’s Background .............................................................................. 57 Barak’s perception of Camp David........................................................ 58 Yasser Arafat ...............................................................................................