Oslo: The Peace That Wasn’t

By January 1993, the Israelis and the Palestinians had opened secret negotiations, culminating in the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements between Israel and the PLO, as the representatives of the Palestinians. So, what was Oslo? What is its legacy? How did the Israeli public, including the settlement leadership, view Oslo? What about the Palestinians? And, what lessons can we learn from this haunting story?

Big Ideas

1. The story of Israel and the Palestinians’ path to peace is a complex and divisive one.
2. Despite the hope that the Oslo Accords brought, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.
3. The Oslo Accords taught that courageous leadership still requires consensus from the population.

Essential Questions

1. What was the legacy of the Oslo Accords on Israeli and Palestinian societies?
2. What factors led to the Oslo Accords, and how did this agreement change the relationship between Israel and the PLO?
3. Why have subsequent attempts at peace failed, and what are the major obstacles to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?