Oslo Accords Didn't Work;

15 Years of Wasted Hope

On the 20th of August, 1993, the Oslo Accords were finalized in Oslo, Norway. This was meant to bring peace to Israel and the Palestinians who were represented by the PLO and Yasser Arafat. They were signed at the White House on Sept 13, 1993 with Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, Warren Christopher and Andrie Kazyrev of Russia. This was 15 years ago.

This meant that Israel had to withdraw its troops from Gaza and the West Bank, but it has turned out to be a total disaster. "We gave up land and in its place got war," stated Yuval Steinitz in the Jerusalem Post.

In 2006 Hamas, a terrorist organization, replacing the PLO, continued to not recognize Israel. They also continue to renounce the Oslo Accords. Why we went ahead with the wishes of Clinton in this atmosphere is not understandable to me. I think that first the Palestinians should have recognized Israel and accepted the accords.

Soon after we had withdrawn, the terrorists were armed on the West Bank. Israel has had to live with suicide bombers sneaking into the country, and continued rocketing into the country.

It sounded great on paper. Yuval had high hopes for its workability. It was pie in the sky. The situation calls for more realism. Partnership has to be a two-way street and the partners have to be honest, or its just not workable.

Reference: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords

Jerusalem Post article by Tovah Lazaroff in www.israelunitycoalition.org