Israeli-Palestinian - The Oslo Accords

If you followed our last post which talked about the Israeli-Palestinian Water Issue, you probably read a term you were not familiar with; the Oslo Accords.

In case you were left with a doubt about what this could be, this post will give you a brief introduction to what the Oslo Accords are.

The Oslo Accords

It was in 1993, September the 13th when representatives from the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and the State of Israel signed in a Washington ceremony hosted by American President at the time Bill Clinton, the "Oslo Accords", also known as "Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements"(Quite long isn't it?). This agreement was meant to end so many decades of rivalry between Israelis and Palestinians, but it wasn't exactly like that.

The Oslo Accords contained a set of principles agreed by both parts, which established a Palestinian self rule period, which was supposed to last for 5 years, but issues were not to wait, and at the third year they were already knocking the door. They were deferred though, to later negotiation that would lead to an agreement that would take effect at the end of this interim period.

The main points of the Oslo Accords were:

1. Transfer of Powers to Palestinians
   [The Oslo Accords included an agreement regarding a transfer of power and responsibilities to the Palestinians in the regions of West Bank and Gaza.]
   
   
2. The Oslo Accords do not prejudge the Permanent Status:
   [The Oslo Accords specifically state that permanent status issues are to be excluded from the interim arrangements and that the outcome of the permanent status talks should not be prejudged or preempted by the interim arrangements. During this period, the Israeli government retains sole responsibility for foreign affairs, defense and borders. Israel's position on Jerusalem remains unchanged.]
   
   
3. Security is still of Israeli responsibility:
   [In the Oslo Accords, Israel and the PLO agree that during the interim period, Israel will still be responsible for security along the international borders and the crossing points to Egypt and Jordan. Israel will also retain responsibility for and the overall security of Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza, the Israeli settlements in those areas, and freedom of movement on roads.]
   
   
   
   
   
   
   - This agreement later suffered some changes, due to disagreements. Even nowadays we can find some results of this agreement, like we mentioned in our last post, regarding the Israeli-Palestinian Water issue.
   
   
   If you want to learn a bit more about the Oslo Accords follow this link:
   http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1991to_now_oslo_accords.php
   
   
   
   
   
   

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Israeli-Palestinian Water Issue - Opinion post

It is likely that some of you might know what this post talks about, but I find it quite interesting and I believe it could be an issue we can discuss about.

The Israeli-Palestinian water issue

In class we talked about this article from The Independent. Israel is being accused of denying the regions of West Bank and Gaza the access to usable water. They say there is a complete discriminatory control that gives Israelis access to four times the water that Palestinians consume.

An Amnesty International report, made by Donatella Rovera, explains how this situation goes. This report mentions that between 180,000 and 200,000 Palestinians in rural communities have no access to running water, and blames the Israeli military to "often" prevent Palestinians from accessing rainwater, by destroying water-harvesting cisterns, prohibiting construction of water wells, and even confiscating water tankers.

The report also mentions the unequal distribution of water coming from the mountain aquifer (which is the principal groundwater resource for both communities). At the same time, it talks about the donors and how they do not manage correctly the funding water-related projects in these territories. All these issues, have some sort of relationship to the Oslo accord in the mid-nineties which we will talk about in further posts. But in a few words, the Oslo agreement established a highly unequal distribution, but the author of this amnesty says that this situation has gone way beyond the establishments of the Oslo agreement.

By the other hand; what is Israel's position in all this issue? Well, Israel is indeed defending itself with certain aspects, such as the Oslo agreement. They say that they respect what this agreement established and they blame the wrong distribution of water by the Palestinians according the the Israel's water authority.

Whatever the truth may be, it is real that Palestinians are going through a very rough situation without the right access to usable water. So, what could be a solution for this issue? If the Israeli government really is denying access, what could the Palestinians do?

Please, feel free to give your opinion, of what a solution could be.

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