The Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1993-2012

Introduction

This article will outline the main stages in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from September 1993 to November 2012, that is from the public announcement that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were  in negotiation up to the accession of Palestine as an observer state in the United Nations.
 
It is a complex period, with many apparent contradictions. Indeed, while the start of the negotiations led people to hope for a way out of the conflict, relations between Israelis and Palestinians have continued to deteriorate and the violence has risen considerably. Despite this, many observers (journalists, politicians, researchers) continue to see the past 19 years as a transitional period which must sooner or later bring about a politically negotiated way out and the creation of a Palestinian state. To emphasise their view of the situation, these observers have tended to highlight or even celebrate events and processes which seem bring this end closer; and vice versa, to minimize or consider reversible those which seem to push them further away (the continued Israeli settlements, the building of the West Bank barrier, the outbreaks of violence and the increasing extremism on both sides).
 
In fact, this transient reading ignores any deeper understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By looking back on the most significant events and processes during the past 19 years, we will see that the profound changes they have caused on the ground increasingly obstruct the creation of a Palestinian state. This is not to succumb to pessimism, but simply to change the perspective so as to understand how the adjustments which have marked this period have led the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a dimension different from the one which the aborted peace process had led people to hope for.
 
This article makes only occasionally references to the MEDMEM archives. It was an editorial choice: to understand this conflict, it is essential to distance ourselves from the temporal nature of some of these media sources, as for example extracts of television news. It is essential to take a step back from the rhetoric and political positions which help enforce some of these sources. So I leave it to the reader to decide whether he or she wants to complete their reading of this article by browsing the archives .

Introduction

I- La période d'Oslo : 1993-2000

II- FROM THE SECOND INTIFADA TO...

III- Dead-End: 2005-2012

EPILOGUE: A PALESTINIAN STATE A...

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abstract

This article will outline the main stages in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from September 1993 to November 2012, that is from the public announcement that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were in negotiation up to the accession of Palestine as an observer state in the United Nations. It is a complex period, with many apparent contradictions. Indeed, while the start of the negotiations led people to hope for a way out of the conflict, relations between Israelis and Palestinians have continued to deteriorate and the violence has risen considerably. Despite this, many observers (journalists, politicians, researchers) continue to see the past 19 years as a transitional period which must sooner or later bring about a politically negotiated way out and...

Author

Parizot Cédric
Research fellow in political anthropology, CNRS, IREMAM, MMSH