What the Failed Oslo Accords Can Teach Us About Prospects for Middle East Peace

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Thirty years ago, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands on the White House lawn and pledged to work together for peace. At that historic meeting, they signed what became known as the first Oslo Accord, ushering in an era of renewed optimism that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved. Was its failure inevitable? Amid the tragedy of the current Israel-Hamas war, The New York Times magazine recently assembled a panel of experts — three Palestinian, three Israeli and one American – to discuss the Oslo peace process and why it broke down. Two of the participants in that discussion and journalist Emily Bazelon, who moderated it, join us to look back at what happened before and after the handshake and what it can tell us about the possibilities for negotiating peace. Guests: Emily Bazelon, staff writer, The New York Times Magazine; author, "Was Peace Ever Possible?" in the New York Times; co-host, Slate's political gabfest Efraim Inbar, professor of political studies, Bar-Ilan University; president, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security Omar Dajani, former senior legal advisor, Palestine Liberation Organization's Negotiations Support Unit; professor of law, University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Key QBD Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport. At SFO, you can shop, dine, and unwind before your flight. Go ahead, treat yourself. Learn more about SFO restaurants and shops at flysafo.com. Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill. Comcast Business, powering possibilities.
0:22.4	Restrictions apply.
0:23.1	Comcast Business Internet required.
0:24.5	Comparates two unlimited intro lines and lowest price 5D plans of top three carriers.
0:27.4	Tax on fees extra, reduce speeds after 30 gigabytes of usage.
0:29.8	Data thresholds may vary.
0:32.1	From KQED.
0:37.1	Music From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrible.
0:49.1	There was a time, and it was not that long ago, when many people across the world,
0:56.8	including those negotiating on both sides,
0:58.1	thought that peace,
1:01.9	peace was coming between Israelis and Palestinians.
1:04.6	How far that time seems from today.
1:07.0	With the horrors of October 7th,
1:08.2	inflicted by Hamas and the punishing bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli military,
1:11.9	how should we remember that optimistic time of the Oslo peace process, aside from with heartbreak
1:18.3	for everyone involved?
1:20.0	Today we'll be joined by two participants in a group conversation about that peace process
1:23.8	assembled by the New York Times Magazine, as well as by journalist Emily Bazelon who
1:27.6	moderated it. What can we learn? Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. I haven't been able to sleep
1:43.1	for nights knowing we were doing this show.
1:46.0	I know how strongly many of you feel about the situation in Israel and Gaza.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.