Oslo Accord and Its purposes for Israel and Palestine

What are Oslo Accords and their purpose?

The Oslo accords are a couple of agreements between the PLO and the government of Israel. There were two accords one is called Oslo I and the other is known as Oslo II. The first agreement took place in 1993, it was signed in Washington D.C. Two years later, the second one was signed in Taba, Egypt. These agreements marked the beginning of a peace process basically aimed at obtaining a peace treaty between Palestine and Israel depending on United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 and 338. Its purpose also includes the fulfilment of the Palestine people’s right to self-determination. Commenced after secret negotiations in Oslo, The Oslo Accords resulting in giving recognition to Israel by Palestine and PLO by Israel as a representative of Palestine.

The Oslo Accords made an authority for the Palestine people. This authority has a limited power of self-governance of the Gaza strip as well as the West Bank. Moreover, these accords between Israel and PLO acknowledged PLO as a partner of negotiation for the remaining problems such as border, settlements, Jerusalem, military presence etc. But these accords by no means recognized Palestine as an independent state. However, these accords were not warmly accepted by the large proportions of Palestine people.

Oslo I

This the first accord signed on August 20, 1993, and mediated by the United States of America. This was the first-ever face to face official conversation between any representatives of Israel and Palestine or PLO. Palestine was given interim self-government by this accord. PLO agreed to recognize Israel as a state. Israeli defence force was withdrawn from Gaza and West Bank. Yasser Arafat was permitted to return to the occupied territory of Palestine.

The accord was signed in the presence of the United States President Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat the PLO chairman and Yitzhak Rabin the prime minister of Israel were also present. The documents were signed by foreign minister Shimon Peres for Israel and Mahmoud Abbas for PLO and Warren Christopher for the United States, on behalf of Russia, Andrei Kozyrev signed the documents.

Oslo II

The second Oslo accord known as Oslo II was signed in Taba on 28 September 1995. As it was signed in Taba, it is also known as Taba Agreement. It was a complex process aim at making a peace between Israel and Palestine. By this agreement, the Palestine interim government was established for their area. But Palestine was not recognized as an independent state by this accord too. The Oslo II accord or the Taba Agreement made three territories where the authority of Palestine was entitled to some limited power and responsibilities. Those three areas were marked as area A, B and C.

In conclusion, by these two accords, the Israeli defence force was withdrawn from Palestine territory and an interim government was established for Palestine people with very limited power. West Bank was divided into three distinct areas but the independence and statehood of Palestine was not recognized by Israel though Israel was recognized by PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)