Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to well-armed Israeli soldiers.
In the wake of 1991's Gulf
War, the Americans brokered a
meeting between Israeli and
Palestinian delegations in
M a d rid . Th is seemed to
achieve little, but in 1993 it was
revealed that the two parties
had been meeting in Norway
where agreement had been
reached. The signing of the
“Oslo Accords” was capped
that year by a handshake
between Israeli prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin and PLO president
Yasser Arafat on the lawn of the
White House. The following year saw
Jordan and Israel formally end the state
of war that had existed between the
two countries since 1948.
S ince th en, Rab in h as b een
assassinated by a Jewish extremist
and Arafat has died. Israel has
celebrated 50 years of statehood but
the Palestinians remain stateless. The
Israelis have built a giant wall
b etween th emsel ves and th e
Palestinians in an attempt to halt the
terror bombings that have been a fact
of daily life since the 1990s. The
cycle of violence continues, but so
do the attempts to find a solution that
will bring a lasting peace to the region.
The Israeli-built wall, designed to stop Palestinian bombers
launched a surprise attack on Israeli
positions. Caught off guard, the
Israelis suffered initial losses but they
counterattacked and reversed early
Arab gains. At the cease of hos-
tilities the action had not altered
the territorial state of affairs set six
years previously.
The 1973 War did, however, pave
the way for the first talks between
Egypt and Israel. In 1979 the two
countries formally agreed to peace
b y signing the Camp David
agreement. In 1982 Sinai was
returned to Egypt.
THE QUEST FOR PEACE
The peace treaty was not welcomed
by all parties. The Palestinians saw it
as undermining their campaign for
self-rule. Groups such as the Palestine
Liberation Organisation (PLO)
stepped up their anti-Israel guerrilla
war. Their tactics won them little
sympathy with the international
community. That changed in late
1987 with the beginning of the
intifada
(“shaking off”), a grass-roots
Palestinian revolt against Israeli occu-
pation in the Gaza Strip and West
Bank. Television screens worldwide
were filled with images of stone-
throwing young Arab boys facing up
Activists on both sides unite for peace
1993
Oslo
Accords lead to
Rabin and Arafat
shaking hands
1995
Israeli
prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin
assassinated
1999
King Hussein
of Jordan dies
1982
Sinai
returned to
the Egyptians
Yasser Arafat, first
president of the
Palestinian Authority
dies, November 2004
1980
1985
1995
2005
2010
1990
2000
2005
Israel withdraws
Jewish settlements
from the Gaza Strip
1987
Eruption of
Palestinian
intifada
against
Israeli occupation
1994
Palestinians
granted limited
autonomy
First issue of
Palestinian
stamps, 1994
