Topics Covered:Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Oslo Accords
What to study?
For Prelims: Where is Jerusalem located?
For Mains: What is the Controversy all about, India’s stand and the need for viable solution.
Context: Palestinians threaten to quit Oslo Accords, if U.S. President Donald Trump announces his West Asia peace plan next week.
Why? Palestinians’ concerns:
The main worry is that this initiative will turn Israel’s “temporary occupation (of Palestinian territory) into a permanent occupation”.
The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and believe Mr. Trump’s plan buries the two-state solution that has been for decades the cornerstone of international West Asia diplomacy.
What’s the issue?
Under the Oslo Accords of the 1993, both Israel and the Palestinians agreed that the status of settlements would be decided by negotiations. But the negotiations process has been all but dead for several years now.
Israel walked into East Jerusalem in 1967, and subsequently annexed it. For Israel, Jerusalem is non-negotiable.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Most of the world’s nations look at it as occupied territory.
About the Oslo Accords:
Formally known as the Declaration of Principles (DOP), the pact established a timetable for the Middle East peace process. It planned for an interim Palestinian government in Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank.
Oslo II, officially called the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza, expanded on Oslo I. It included provisions for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from six West Bank cities and about 450 towns. Additionally, the pact set a timetable for elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The Details of Oslo Accords:
The Declaration calls for:
– Israel to withdraw from Jericho and Gaza, and eventually the West Bank.
– Five years of limited autonomy for Palestinians in those areas.
– Election of Palestinian Legislative Council within nine months.
– Establishment of a Palestinian police force.
– The question of Jerusalem was left undecided.
Sources: the Hindu.
