The Path From Oslo to War

RAMALLAH, West Bank — To justify Israeli actions, two deliberate distortions of reality are being employed in Israel's war against Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. First, the government of Ariel Sharon is treating the Palestinian Authority as a full-fledged state when it is nothing of the sort. Second, perhaps more significant for the international community, Israel blames the Palestinian Authority for its failure to provide security for Israel's pursuit of territorial objectives that are clearly illegal under international law.

The Palestinian Authority was established by agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and granted powers that fall far short of those of a state. It was not given sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza. Instead, under Article VIII of the Declaration of Principles, commonly referred to as the Oslo accords, the authority was allowed to establish "a strong police force," while Israel would continue to carry "the responsibility for overall security of Israelis for the purpose of safeguarding their internal security and public order." The sharing of security responsibilities between Israel and the Palestinians has clearly not worked.

When the Oslo accords were signed, they had the support of a majority of the Palestinian people in the territories. This was because Palestinians were promised by their leaders that those agreements would be the first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state in the territories occupied since 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. From the beginning, those who did not agree to the principle of the division of historical Palestine into two states, Israel and Palestine, were the mutual enemies of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. As long as there was the perception that the two sides agreed on the principle of division of the land, the Palestinian security forces had no compunction in fighting those who opposed the division.