There is nothing more permanent in the Middle East than those institutions meant to be temporary. One of the most prominent examples of this phenomenon is the Palestinian National Authority (PA), which was intended as a 5-year interim organization while the Israelis and Palestinians negotiated a final-status agreement -- and which is now entering its 17th year of existence.
The PA sprung from the Oslo Accords, a series of negotiations signed in Sept. 1993 that sought to provide a framework of negotiations for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Though formally established the following year, over time, the PA's powers and responsibilities were more clearly defined: A 1995 agreement divided the Occupied Territories into "Area A," where the PA had responsibility over security-related and civilian matters; "Area B," where the PA only had control over civilian issues; and "Area C," where the Israelis remained in control.
But despite these best-laid plans, the PA still exists -- and has never evolved into a full-fledged state for the Palestinians. When PA President Mahmoud Abbas takes the Palestinian case to the U.N. Security Council this week, he is in effect throwing his hands up in exasperation at the history of false starts and broken promises that have characterized direct negotiations with Israel.
Above is the handshake that started it all: U.S. President Bill Clinton stands between Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn, after the two longtime antagonists signed the Oslo Accords.
J. David AKE/AFP/Getty Images
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GHAZAL
10:46 PM ET
September 20, 2011
the march started in 1917,
the march started in 1917, facing the british mandate andthe zionist movement in palestine. its very long and hard, but it will continue.
GHAZAL
8:23 PM ET
September 21, 2011
all what we care about is to live in our land in dignity
the ottoman are muslims. people who live in palestine under the turks control where muslims christians and jews have rigths and live together in peace, yes there was prplems because diferences but there was justise for all, there was no borders between palestine and egypt or palestine and lebanon, people have freedom in traveling, trade and working, and this is because there was no discrimination between arabs, turks or any other ethnic group because they where muslims and it dosent matter who is the governer if he was muslim and the people accept that, the other religious groups like jews and christians called "milla" or "ra'aia" thats mean they have the ottoman citizenship , but what happend after that the uprising of the turks nationalists in turky and the way that they deel with arab and the weeknes of the "sultan", make the arab angry and the reaction was the uprising of the arab nationalism , palestinian with syrian and lebanes called for the indebence of the great syria, there where revolution in hijaz which now saudi arabia there where also in egypt hraq and syria, but palestine was a special case because there was no strong infeluence for the arab Nationalism and the religious case of palestine make the turks care for palestine and the people in it, there was a little number of schools and the number of people who have higth education was small, actually people in my village didn't know that there was wwI and england win the war until they saw soldiers with blow eyes and blonde hair wearing shorts. but zionism have ambitions in palestine and british have agenda in palestine so the people figth against them and this is somthing they don't need higth education to understand it.
AANONYMOUS
1:11 AM ET
September 22, 2011
So, are you suggesting that
So, are you suggesting that since waging bloody revolts throughout history, from ester to greece, is what the Palestinians should do to get their way too? How does thinking others won't copy "your" ways make sense? If you kill, torture, enslave, and dehumanize a population, they will rise up and do the same to yours. It's only a matter of time, people like you progress evil cycles like these. You don't want peace, you don't believe in compromising with Muslims, so reap what you sow.
The media affects only the weak minded and/or ignorant.
TARQUINIS
12:47 PM ET
September 21, 2011
Obama's UN speech
President Obama says that peace must be obtained through negotiations directly between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
But for the past forty years or so this has never gone anywhere, and absent outside intervention, it never will.
Why? Because the so called "peace process" has always been a bogus fraud being analogous to a little girl on the ground with the foot of a 300 lb man on her throat supposedly negotiating over who gets the lollipop, because the US is entirely co-opted by the vast political power of the Zionist lobbies (to wit. Rick Perry's slavish crawling for political advantage), and basically because the relative negotiating power of the parties is so vastly disparate. All this is obvious and so it remains.
Short term advantage: Zionism
Long term advantage: Palestine
How many of our dear readers noticed the recent article in Foreign Policy "How did a million Israelis go missing"? There is a good reason why they are leaving Israel, voting with their feet.
(The million missing Israelis: By Joseph Chamie, Barry Mirkin
Israeli Demographers in Foreign Policy: July 5, 2011)
Israel is now in a strategic trap of its own creation. With thanks and felicitation to the vast power of the Zionist lobbies. Don’t worry; be happy (if unending war is what you want). But if not, then get out while the getting is good. And according to Israeli demographers Chamie and Mirkin, around a million have in recent years.
It is a simple fact that unending war can only in time come to a catastrophic outcome. You must figure that most Zionist posters know this too.
That is why I think them delusional.
This is neither liberal, nor conservative. It is history. Get used to it.
SKIP
2:18 PM ET
September 21, 2011
PALESTINE WILL BE FREE........................
March 2000 Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, leader of Chabad-Lubavitch:
“The difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish person stems from the common expression: ‘Let us differentiate.’ Thus, we do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. Rather, we have case of ‘let us differentiate’ between totally different species. This is what needs to be said about the body: the body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body of (members) of all nations of the world… A non-Jew’s entire reality is only vanity. The entire creation (all non-jews) exists only for the sake of the Jews.”
In September 2002, Arundhati Roy wrote, “Come September”
"The terms 'democracy' or 'democratic' are totally absent from the Declaration of Independence. This is not an accident. The intention of Zionism was not to bring democracy, needless to say. It was solely motivated by the creation in Eretz-Isrel of a Jewish state belonging to all the Jewish people and to the Jewish people alone. This is why any Jew of the Diaspora has the right to immigrate to Israel and to become a citizen of Israel."- Ariel Sharon, May 28, 1993 edition of Yedioth Ahronoth.
GARFI
10:48 AM ET
September 23, 2011
the racist apartheid state
the racist apartheid state will do all it can to holdback freedom for these people. No oppressive racist regime lasts forever. The quickest way for the Palestinians to get rid of this one is to take up all hands UNARMED resistance in the occupied territories coupled with worldwide boycott of Israel and anyone that does business porno day with it.
DAYE
1:30 AM ET
October 11, 2011
Palestine and Israel should bring down the fence
Seeds for the Palestine state have been sown in Oslo accords a couple of decades ago under the guided hegemony of U.S. Both Israel and Palestine have failed to live up to the mutual respect and co-existence sentiments echoed in those accords and more blood has been shed in the process. Time and again, peace-making efforts have been disrupted by the unruly behavior of Israel and the unrelenting attitude of Palestine respectively. Palestine’s uncooperatively affirmative attitude has been obstructing the peace process. When I think about it, it seems to trigger my postnasaldrip cough; unless, all the involved parties are adamant to reach some kind of agreement there will be no closure for the issue of Palestinian statehood.
YARINSIZ
7:09 PM ET
October 14, 2011
The difference between a
The difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish person stems from the common expression: ‘Let us differentiate.’ Thus, we do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. Rather, we have case of ‘let us differentiate’ between totally different species. This is what needs to be said about the body: the seslichat body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body of (members) of all nations of the world… A non-Jew’s entire reality is only vanity. The entire creation (all non-jews) exists only for the sake of the Jews