FINAL WARNING: The Shining Star
East situation by acknowledging Israel’s right to exist, and expressing
a desire to begin negotiations to establish a Palestinian political
authority that could coexist with Israel.Salah Khalaf Abu lyad, Yasir Arafat’s chief deputy, said on January 1,
1991: “Now we accept the formation of the Palestinian state in part of
Palestine, in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. We will start from that part
and we will liberate Palestine, inch by inch.”In August 20, 1993, in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, Yitzhak Rabin
(Israel) and Yasser Arafat (head of the Palestinian Liberation
Organization) reached an agreement, known as the Declaration of
Principles (or Oslo Accords), in an attempt to end its armed struggle in
exchange for gradual Palestinian autonomy (through the creation of
the Palestinian Authority) over parts of the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip, which was later extended to Nablus, Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah,
Qalqilya, Tulkarm, and Hebron in 1995. The two leaders also signed
Letters of Mutual Recognition, in which the Israeli government
recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian
people; and the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist, and also
renounced terrorism, violence, and their desire for the destruction of
the State of Israel.In a September 9, 1993 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
Arafat renounced his terrorist activities and said: “The PLO recognizes
the right of the state of Israel to exist in peace and security.”The Oslo Accords were signed by both leaders in Washington, D.C. on
September 13th, yet, on September 19th, P.L.O. Chairman Arafat said
before a group of 19 Arab ministers meeting in Cairo: “Our first goal is
the liberation of all occupied territories ... and the establishment of a
Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem. The agreement we
arrived at is not a complete solution ... it is only the basis for an interim
solution and the forerunner of a final settlement, which must be based
on a complete withdrawal from all occupied Palestinian lands,
especially holy Jerusalem.”On September 14, 1993, Jordan signed an agenda for peace with Israel,
which culminated with Peace Treaty that was signed in October, 1994.
Also in October, 1994, Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the PLO’s political