In 1970, Arafat and the PLO attempted to dethrone King Hussein of Jordan and failed. As a consequence, he went into exile to Libanon. In the following years, militant PLO members pursued a strategy of terror against Jews in Israel and on international territory. After the first "intifada", the civil war between Jews and Palestinians which lasted for 6 years, Arafat sat down at the negotiation table with Yizhak Rabin in 1992/3. The result was the "Oslo Declaration of Principles" (September 13, 1993). Election results in Westbank and Gaza Strip in 1996 confirmed Arafat as leader of the PLO. After the failure of the Camp David talks in summer 2000 (no peace contract was achieved), the second "Intifada" started with new upraises. Arafat was arrested in Ramallah under permanent supervision of Israeli military.
The leadership style of Yasser Arafat has not been without critics. He is known as undemocratic, authoritarian and arbitrary. His supporters do not share this view. Only hesitatingly sources tell about Arafats illness, problematic health and occasional confusions of mind, as reporters of the German newsmagazine "heute" find out.
The Palestinian people is divided into different groups. Fundamental Islamic organisations such as Islamic Dschihad ("Holy war”) and Hamas represent the most radical wing.
Palestinian leadership is changing. Arafat loses more and more control over radical Islamic organisations. The international community supported Mahmud Abbas, an internal rival of arafat. Abbas became Minister president in _____ but resigned because of great political pressure _____ later. With the retirement of Abbas, who symbolised the diplomatic connection between the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority, the peace process suffered a heavy setback.
2.
The "Oslo Declaration of Principles on interim self-government arrangements" is the result of negotiations of Yasser Arafat and Jizhak Rabin. In this document, both sides recognized the rights of the other to exist as a people within the pre-1967 borders of Palestine/Israel, and committed themselves to negotiating a permanent settlement and to improving relations between the two peoples. The agreement provides a framework for a solution, rather than a solution, the "mideastweb" comments.
Pro-Palestinians cirticise that the Oslo DOP and subsequent agreements make no mention of a Palestinian state, nor do they make specific mention of cessation of Israeli settlement activity.
On the contrary, Zionist critics claim that Israel gave away territory and security in return for Palestinian commitments that would not be met.
This is one example of the deep mistrust of both sides in which the conflict is rooted.
The Second Intifada:
Towards the end of September, 2000, A former Israeli military general, and now Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon () visited a holy Muslim site, called the Temple Mount by the Israelis, and Haram al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) by the Muslims and proclaimed it as eternal Israeli territory. Sharon had been accused of massacres in his military days and is well known to all. He is very right wing and against the peace process. This infuriated Palestinians, and led to a series of protests and violence and another major "uprising" or intifada.
Total number of Palestinian deaths & injuries in West Bank & Gaza since Sept 29th, 2000 is 2,537 deaths, 23,896 injuries. (Figures inclusive to Oct. 24, 2003).
Source: http://www.palestinercs.org/intifadasummary.htm
743 killed, 504 severely injured, 710 moderately and 3837 lightly injured, among them 11 MDA staff members.
Source:
http://www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0ia50
http://www.tagesschau.de/aktuell/meldungen/
http://www.heute.t-online.de/ZDFheute
www.mideastweb.org/ meoslodop.htm
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/MiddleEast/Palestine/Violence2000.asp
