yasser arafat

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. president Bill Clinton, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House on September 13, 1993. (Vince Musi/The White House)

The Oslo era is finally over, but it only gets worse from here

In theory, the end of Oslo should be a welcome development. In practice, there is little to celebrate. There is something unsettling about the way the 25-year anniversary since the signing of the Oslo Accords is being marked — neither eulogy nor longing, and without anyone having any clue what lies ahead. There is one…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man September 14, 2018

Uri Avnery (Yossi Gurvitz)

The Israeli peace activist who crossed enemy lines and shaped generations

Adam Keller, who spent 50 years working alongside Uri Avnery, remembers the man who hoped for a warm embrace between an Israeli and a Palestinian president. By Adam Keller How to sum up in a few words 50 years of political partnership, which was also an intimate friendship, with the person who, I believe, had the most…

By +972 Magazine August 22, 2018

An Israeli soldier checks women's IDs, Qalandiya checkpoint, West Bank, August 20, 2010. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

How one of Palestine’s preeminent journalists lost hope for peace

Nasser Laham, the editor-in-chief of Palestine’s biggest independent media outlet, used to be an ardent supporter Abbas and the peace process. But after decades of failed attempts, something inside him changed. Today he believes Palestinians must stop talking about peace. ‘We’ll wait a thousand years, the Israelis will be defeated. What’s the hurry?’ By Meron Rapoport…

By +972 Magazine July 8, 2018

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a PLO executive committee meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 22, 2015. (Flash90)

The Palestinian leadership must speak directly — to Americans

As long as Israel holds unparalleled sway in Washington, no progress toward Palestinian rights will be achieved. But that needn’t be the end of the story. By James J. Zogby Three decades ago, I was invited to address a Palestinian American audience on the work that was needed to change American policy toward Palestinian rights.…

By +972 Magazine September 4, 2017

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and then Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, June 10, 2013. (Mark Neyman/GPO)

Colombia’s Israel connection: Peacemaking and the Peace Prize

If the Nobel committee sought to move the needle on Colombian peace by honoring one of its auteurs, they might do well to remember a similar experiment that is all-too-familiar to observers in the Middle East. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which went to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos “for his resolute efforts to bring…

By Samer Badawi October 8, 2016

Israeli soldier mourn beside flowers placed on the grave of Israeli border policewoman, Hadar Cohen, 19, during her funeral at the military cemetery in Yehud, near Tel Aviv, Israel, February 4, 2016. Three Palestinians killed the Israeli border policewoman and wounded another before being shot dead by nearby officers at Damascus gate IN Jerusalem's Old City on February 3, 2016. (Activestills.org)

Why do we only listen to violence?

Two intifadas increased Israeli willingness to make territorial withdrawals. Wars in Lebanon and Egypt led Israel to withdrawals from those territories. Despite all that, the Palestinian Authority is trying to maintain quiet and security for Israelis but receives nothing in return. If I were Palestinian I might come to a disturbing conclusion. One axiom of…

By Noam Sheizaf March 10, 2016

Yitzhak Rabin at Andrews Air Force Base, September 10, 1986. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Yitzhak Rabin never supported Palestinian statehood

For 20 years the Israeli Left has utilized selective memory to reinvent the late prime minister. In reality, Rabin only wanted to grant the Palestinians limited autonomy, a goal he achieved through the Oslo Accords. By Yakir Adelman Ahead of the 1992 elections in Israel there was a televised debate between Yitzhak Rabin and incumbent prime…

By +972 Magazine October 27, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. president Bill Clinton, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House on September 13, 1993. (Vince Musi/The White House)

The side of Rabin’s legacy Israelis love to forget

Over 20 years later, the mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO teaches us one thing: despite the hatred, we have no choice but to live together. From year to year, the memory of Yitzhak Rabin goes from a political issue to a nostalgic one. Twenty years after his assassination, the Israeli public is inundated…

By Noam Sheizaf October 26, 2015

Israeli riot police run during clashes in the Shuafat neighborhood of East Jerusalem, October 5, 2015. (Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills.org)

Israel’s scapegoat problem

Israeli governments always found someone to blame for whatever violence came their way, and then they bombed them. This time around there’s nobody to blame. Except for that one thing. By Talal Jabari This current wave of “lone-wolf” attacks by Palestinians against Israelis poses a threat to the Israeli government unlike any other. Obviously I…

By +972 Magazine October 14, 2015

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in 1996. (UN Photo/Evan Schneider)

My afternoon with Yasser Arafat

Ten years after Arafat’s death, an Arab citizen of Israel reflects on a solidarity visit to the father of Palestinian nationalism in his besieged Ramallah compound. By Seraj Assi Ten years ago, on November 11, 2004, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in mysterious circumstances in Paris. Theories ranged from natural causes to assassination. The French, Russian…

By +972 Magazine November 12, 2014

Ismail Hanniyeh, Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas

10 years after Arafat: Where did the Palestinian leadership go?

In both Gaza and Ramallah the Palestinian leadership hasn’t gotten involved in the latest wave of violence. They’re not condemning it, they’re not supporting it, and they’re certainly not offering Palestinians any vision. But Israelis shouldn’t take comfort. One of the hottest topics in the media recently is the question of whether we can call…

By Haggai Matar November 11, 2014

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat being interviewed by Uri Avnery in west Beirut. (Photo by Anat Saragusti, courtesy of Uri Avnery)

How three Israeli journalists brought Arafat into Israeli homes

Fifty years after the founding of the PLO, journalist Anat Saragusti talks about the first interview Yasser Arafat gave to an Israeli media outlet, looking for the real story in Beirut under siege, and the importance of pushing the limits of society’s comfort zone. By Anat Saragusti This story can go in a number of directions.…

By +972 Magazine June 7, 2014

Netanyahu and Abbas in Washington, September 15, 2010 (State Dept. Photo)

‘There was no generous offer’: A history of peace talks

Raviv Drucker, a prominent journalist who co-hosts a well-known television magazine program on Channel 10, wrote a tough blog post in which he takes some of Israel’s best known journalists to task for presenting a completely erroneous interpretation of the Palestinian position regarding a negotiated agreement for a two-state solution. I have translated his post…

By Lisa Goldman April 26, 2014