Nadene Goldfoot
By 1964, the primary Palestinian groups were earlier nationalist movements and emerging militant organizations that predated the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in May of that year.
- Arab Higher Committee: This was a prominent, older Arab nationalist group that had been active since the British Mandate era and the 1948 War. Led by Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, it was largely sidelined after the establishment of the PLO.
- Fatah (Palestinian National Liberation Movement): Founded as a political movement in 1959 by members of the Palestinian diaspora, including Yasser Arafat from Egypt, Salah Khalaf, and Khalil al-Wazir. Fatah operated clandestinely before 1964 and publicly emerged in January 1965 when it claimed responsibility for attacks in Israel. Fatah members attended the first Palestinian National Congress in a personal capacity.
- Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM): Founded in 1953 by George Habash, a Palestinian Christian, the ANM was a secular, pan-Arab movement with branches in several Arab countries. Its commando group, "Heroes of Return" (Abtal al-Audah), was established in 1966 in collaboration with the PLO's army. The ANM was a precursor to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was formed in 1967.
- Palestine Popular Liberation Organization: This far-left group was founded in 1964.
- Ba'ath Party: Members of the al-Ba'ath Party also attended the first Palestinian National Congress in a personal capacity.
- Origins: The PLO was formed in 1964 as a secular, nationalist umbrella organization for various Palestinian groups, with Fatah being its dominant faction.
- Hamas, an Arabic acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement, was founded much later in 1987 (at the start of the First Intifada) as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, making it an Islamist organization.
- Arafat was the PLO leader, so Israel had been fighting those terrorists since 1964, before the 1967 War.
- Opposition to Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation: The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, opposed attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, stressing that Hamas needed to accept the Quartet Principles (renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements) to be considered a legitimate political actor. This stance made it difficult for a unity government to function or gain international support, thereby entrenching the existing split.
- Lack of Credible Peace Process: The administration's failure to make significant progress on a peace settlement, despite President Obama's initial declaration regarding the 1967 borders, led to widespread frustration and a sense among Palestinians that the U.S. was a biased mediator favoring Israel. "The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states."
- After all the dickering that went on, the Jewish Homeland was eaten up by Jordan's Abdullah who received 80%, leaving 20 % for the Jews, and now they are to lose at least 10% more of it to Palestinians who never ever had land in Palestine. These people came from surrounding countries, like Syria.
- This disillusionment with the U.S.-led peace process and the internationally-backed Fatah leadership may have indirectly sustained or increased underlying support for alternative, more resistant factions like Hamas.
Seated at the table for these important talks were noteworthy leaders, including PLO head Yassir Arafat, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Norwegian deputy foreign minister Jan Egeland. The Norwegians effectively served as mediators between the two sides.
Now they say that: Although the Oslo Accords were noteworthy in that the PLO agreed to formally recognize the state of Israel and that Israel, in turn, allowed the Palestinians some form of limited self-governance in Gaza and the West Bank (the so-called Occupied Territories), they were originally seen only as a stepping-stone toward the ratification of a formal peace treaty between the two sides that would end decades of conflict. However, the Oslo Accords have yet to result in any lasting peace—and their overall impact remains up for debate. Why? Because they keep on attacking Israel, like the town of Sderot; attacked almost daily.
- Late 2001 onwards: The city of Sderot has been a target of continuous, though often less lethal, Qassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip since this time, with rocket fire intensifying significantly after the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005. The first Israeli fatalities from rocket fire occurred in the Sderot area in June 2004.
The Oslo Accords were caused by a convergence of factors, including the Israeli government and PLO facing pressure to end the First Intifada, which eroded Israel's international standing, like today. The Intifada began on 9 December 1987 in the Jabalia refugee camp after an Israeli truck driver collided with parked civilian vehicles, killing four Palestinian workers, three of whom were from the refugee camp. Palestinians charged that the collision was a deliberate response for the killing of an Israeli in Gaza days earlier.
The accords were brokered through secret, back-channel negotiations in Norway and began with the premise of gradual self-governance for Palestinians, based on the mutual recognition of Israel and the PLO.
- Main parties: The primary signatories and participants were the Israeli government, represented by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and the PLO, represented by Chairman Yasser Arafat.
- Mediators: Secret negotiations took place in Oslo, Norway, and were facilitated by Norwegian officials like Jan Egeland and Johan Jørgen Holst.
- Witnesses and supporters: The signing of the accords was witnessed by leaders from other countries, including the United States and Russia, as well as representatives from Egypt, Jordan, and the European Union. The U.S. played a significant role in bringing the parties together and helping to implement the agreement.
- 1994: Under the Oslo Accords, Israel began a phased transfer of governmental authority in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jericho to the newly created Palestinian Authority (PA), led by Yasser Arafat.
- Since 2001, Palestinian militants have launched tens of thousands of rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip as part of the continuing Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
- August-September 2005: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon implemented a full, unilateral disengagement from Gaza, which involved evacuating all Israeli settlers and soldiers and demolishing all 21 Israeli settlements in the territory. The last soldier left the Gaza Strip on September 12, 2005
- Following the 2005 withdrawal, control of the territory was transferred to the Palestinian Authority. However, Israel maintained control of Gaza's borders, airspace, and shoreline for self protection-security, leading many international bodies and legal experts to still consider the territory under Israeli occupation according to international law.
- In 2007, the militant group, Hamas, forcibly seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-led PA after a violent conflict, and the territory has remained under Hamas's governance since then. This led to Israel and Egypt imposing a significant blockade on the area. The Bush administration, which had pushed for the elections in an effort to promote democracy, chose to ignore the results and isolate Hamas after it won a majority of the seats.
- The 2007 conflict between Fatah and Hamas, known as the Battle of Gaza, was a brief but brutal civil war from June 10 to 15, 2007, resulting in Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip and a de facto division of the Palestinian territories.
