It was a grotesque week in the U.S. discourse of Palestine. It was the 30th anniversary of Oslo, and all the usual suspects from the Israel lobby were shedding tears over the two-state solution and insisting that’s the only way forward.
So NPR talked to Aaron David Miller about what a noble thing was Oslo. And Oslo is also the candle in the wind for Dennis Ross and David Makovsky. In the Washington Post, they dream of Oslo 2.0 with Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Salman shaking hands: “The deal that further entrenched Israeli apartheid, land theft, and occupation must be resuscitated for the benefit of Khashoggi’s killers,” Michael Arria wrote for us.
These people are American narcissists. Anyone else can suffer so that our self-conception as the good guys carries on.
None of these media had the honesty or courage to interview Mustafa Barghouti, who explained to our readers this week that Oslo cemented apartheid.
“After thirty years, it became evident that the ‘dream’ of establishing a Palestinian state through the Oslo agreement was merely a nightmare of continued Israeli military occupation.”
I’m proud that we offered one take after another this week about what a cruel charade Oslo has been.
“That was a period, albeit a short-lived period, of hope, of optimism, of confidence,” Hanan Ashrawi reflected to Yumna Patel. “When we came back [from Washington], people believed that they could achieve liberation through a political process, but that these were dashed afterwards completely.”
Miko Peled says his father had the same faith, and he was wrong:
“Today I, along with many others, realize that the Oslo Accords were meant to deepen Israeli control of Palestine and its people while allowing Israel to look good… The entire concept of the two-state solution was a scam.”
While Edward Said was praised for his foresight 30 years ago: “The fashion-show vulgarities of the White House ceremony, the degrading spectacle of Yasser Arafat thanking everyone for the suspension of most of his people’s rights, and the fatuous solemnity of Bill Clinton’s performance, like a 20th-century Roman emperor.”
And lastly, Faris Giacaman wrote a brilliant essay for us, “Death to Oslo,” relating the many ways that the Oslo has seeded resistance in the next generation of Palestinians. A bracing and forward-looking piece, and a frightening one. But this is the frightening reality created by oppressors. Because you can buy some off, but the people will not accept apartheid.
“Even though Oslo managed to ensnare a population in a web of dependency and the cycle of consumerism that it creates, it remains powerless and unable to shield that same population from the ravages of settler pogroms and colonial predation,” Giacaman relates.
There are many forms of escapism, among them an insular middle-class existence–
“And others still choose to fight and reject all of it. Their names and faces adorn posters and necklaces.”
Thanks for reading!
Phil Weiss
