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Norway says Palestinian recognition part of ‘Oslo 2.0’ peace vision

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/13/what-were-oslo-accords-israel-palestinians

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says the Spanish, Irish and Norwegian recognition of Palestinian statehood was part of an “Oslo 2.0” peace vision for the Middle East.

“We cannot just be stuck with the way we wanted to do this in the 1990s; we have to realise … we are in 2024, and we need to upgrade this longstanding vision of a peaceful settlement,” he said.

Thirty years ago, Norway had mediated the Oslo Accords, a deal many believed could have been a precursor for peace in the region.

The first Oslo Accord signed in 1993 brought together former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat. The agreement saw each side recognise the other for the first time. Both sides also pledged to end their decades-long conflict.

The second accord, Oslo II, was signed in September 1995, detailing the structure of the bodies that the peace process was supposed to form.

The Oslo Accords were supposed to bring about Palestinian self-determination, in the form of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

However, the Oslo Accords witnessed a slow decline, with Israel continuing its occupation of Palestinian land and refusing to withdraw militarily from the majority of the West Bank while continuing to conduct raids into land considered under the full administration of the Palestinian Authority.


The big issue with the Oslo accords was that the Palestinians weren't considered. The PLO accepted a terrible deal to save their own hide and Israel made full use of that fragmented West Bank plan to push illegal settlements, rather than turning the other areas over to the PA as was part of the plan.



So please don't call it Oslo 2.0. It didn't work, it was a bad plan which has led to a nearly impossible situation to solve now.