What is the ancestral homeland of the Palestinians ?When was it defined and recognised ?'The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the start of the Oslo process, a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty based on Resolution 242 and Resolution 338 of the United Nations Security Council. The Oslo process began after secret negotiations in Oslo, Norway, resulting in both the recognition of Israel by the PLO and the recognition by Israel of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as a partner in bilateral negotiations.Among the notable outcomes of the Oslo Accords was the creation of the Palestinian National Authority, which was tasked with the responsibility of conducting limited Palestinian self-governance over parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; and the international acknowledgement of the PLO as Israel's partner in permanent-status negotiations about any remaining issues revolving around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.On November 15, 1988, Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat, declared the establishment of Palestine.Before then for most of its history, Palestine was a province of what was known as Greater Syria. Only for a few centuries was Palestine made up of larger separate kingdoms; throughout most of history, however, it constituted a provincial region of historical Syria.In 2007, internal divisions between Palestinian political factions led to a takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Since then, the West Bank has been governed in part by the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah, while the Gaza Strip has remained under the control of Hamas'. So who speaks for Palestine: the unelected terrorist group Hamas still holding and murdering Israeli hostages taken after its invasion of Israel in October 2023 or the Palestinian Authority ?I have no doubt Trump's grandiose plans for relocating Palestinians are derived from his negotiating techniques described in 'The Art of the Deal'.He knows he can't put it into effect because the US people will not want their troops actively drawn into this mess.But it will surely make the Palestinians and surrounding Arab countries sit up and show their hands.And pleasingly it has got under the skin of the Palestinian fellow travellers on this Forum and will stiffen the backbone of Israel as they fight to resist their barbaric Islamist enemy.
John Hawkes ● 86d