he Madrid Conference
US and Israeli failure to respond meaningfully
to PLO moderation resulted in the PLO's
opposition to the US-led attack on Iraq during
the 1991 Gulf War. The PLO did not endorse
Iraq's annexation of Kuwait, but it saw
Saddam Hussein's challenge to the US and the
Gulf oil-exporting states as a way to alter the
regional status quo and focus attention on the
question of Palestine. After the war, the PLO
was diplomatically isolated. Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia cut off financial support they had been
providing, bringing the PLO to the brink of
crisis.
After the Gulf War, the US sought to stabilize its
position in the Middle East by promoting a
resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite
their turn against the PLO, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia were anxious to resolve the Arab-Israeli
conflict and remove the potential for regional
instability it created. The administration of
President Bush felt obliged to its Arab allies, and
pressed a reluctant Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir to open negotiations with the
Palestinians and the Arab states at a multilateral
conference convened in Madrid, Spain, in
October 1991. Shamir's conditions, which the US
accepted, were that the PLO be excluded
from the talks and that the Palestinian desires for
independence and statehood not be directly
addressed.
In subsequent negotiating sessions held in
Washington, DC, Palestinians were represented by
a delegation from the occupied territories.
Participants in this delegation were subject to
Israeli approval, and residents of East Jerusalem
were barred on the grounds that the city is
part of Israel. Although the PLO was formally
excluded from these talks, its leaders regularly
consulted with and advised the Palestinian
delegation. Although Israeli and Palestinian
delegations met many times, little progress was
achieved. Prime Minister Shamir announced
after he left office that his strategy was to drag
out the Washington negotiations for ten years,
by which time the annexation of the West Bank would
be an accomplished fact.
A new Israeli Labor Party government led by Yitzhak
Rabin assumed office in June 1992 and
promised rapid conclusion of an Israel-Palestinian
agreement. Instead, the Washington
negotiations became stalemated after December 1992,
when Israel expelled over 400
Palestinian residents of the occupied territories
who were accused (but not tried or convicted)
of being radical Islamist activists. Human rights
conditions in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip deteriorated dramatically after Rabin assumed
office. This undermined the legitimacy of
the Palestinian delegation to the Washington talks
and prompted the resignation of several
delegates.
Lack of progress in the Washington talks and
deterioration of the economic and human rights
conditions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
accelerated the growth of a radical Islamist
challenge to the PLO. Violent attacks against
Israeli targets by HAMAS (Islamic Resistance
Movement) and Islamic Jihad further exacerbated
tensions. Ironically, before the intifada,
Israeli authorities had enabled the development of
Islamist organizations as a way to divide
Palestinians in the occupied territories. But as
the popularity of Islamists grew and challenged
the moderation of the PLO, they came to regret
their policy of encouraging political Islam as
an alternative to the PLO's secular nationalism.
Eventually, Yitzhak Rabin came to believe that
HAMAS, Jihad and the broader Islamic movements of
which they were a part posed more of
a threat to Israel than the PLO.
____________________________________________________________
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Send a newsletter, share photos & files, conduct polls, organize chat events. Visit http://in/ groups.yahoo.com
US and Israeli failure to respond meaningfully
to PLO moderation resulted in the PLO's
opposition to the US-led attack on Iraq during
the 1991 Gulf War. The PLO did not endorse
Iraq's annexation of Kuwait, but it saw
Saddam Hussein's challenge to the US and the
Gulf oil-exporting states as a way to alter the
regional status quo and focus attention on the
question of Palestine. After the war, the PLO
was diplomatically isolated. Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia cut off financial support they had been
providing, bringing the PLO to the brink of
crisis.
After the Gulf War, the US sought to stabilize its
position in the Middle East by promoting a
resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite
their turn against the PLO, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia were anxious to resolve the Arab-Israeli
conflict and remove the potential for regional
instability it created. The administration of
President Bush felt obliged to its Arab allies, and
pressed a reluctant Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir to open negotiations with the
Palestinians and the Arab states at a multilateral
conference convened in Madrid, Spain, in
October 1991. Shamir's conditions, which the US
accepted, were that the PLO be excluded
from the talks and that the Palestinian desires for
independence and statehood not be directly
addressed.
In subsequent negotiating sessions held in
Washington, DC, Palestinians were represented by
a delegation from the occupied territories.
Participants in this delegation were subject to
Israeli approval, and residents of East Jerusalem
were barred on the grounds that the city is
part of Israel. Although the PLO was formally
excluded from these talks, its leaders regularly
consulted with and advised the Palestinian
delegation. Although Israeli and Palestinian
delegations met many times, little progress was
achieved. Prime Minister Shamir announced
after he left office that his strategy was to drag
out the Washington negotiations for ten years,
by which time the annexation of the West Bank would
be an accomplished fact.
A new Israeli Labor Party government led by Yitzhak
Rabin assumed office in June 1992 and
promised rapid conclusion of an Israel-Palestinian
agreement. Instead, the Washington
negotiations became stalemated after December 1992,
when Israel expelled over 400
Palestinian residents of the occupied territories
who were accused (but not tried or convicted)
of being radical Islamist activists. Human rights
conditions in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip deteriorated dramatically after Rabin assumed
office. This undermined the legitimacy of
the Palestinian delegation to the Washington talks
and prompted the resignation of several
delegates.
Lack of progress in the Washington talks and
deterioration of the economic and human rights
conditions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
accelerated the growth of a radical Islamist
challenge to the PLO. Violent attacks against
Israeli targets by HAMAS (Islamic Resistance
Movement) and Islamic Jihad further exacerbated
tensions. Ironically, before the intifada,
Israeli authorities had enabled the development of
Islamist organizations as a way to divide
Palestinians in the occupied territories. But as
the popularity of Islamists grew and challenged
the moderation of the PLO, they came to regret
their policy of encouraging political Islam as
an alternative to the PLO's secular nationalism.
Eventually, Yitzhak Rabin came to believe that
HAMAS, Jihad and the broader Islamic movements of
which they were a part posed more of
a threat to Israel than the PLO.
____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send a newsletter, share photos & files, conduct polls, organize chat events. Visit http://in/ groups.yahoo.com