liberation organization that led to the oslo peace process accords they'll be more news in 45 minutes time i'm here until timberland stay with us and just remember until then you can stay up to date with all the latest on our web site that's t w dot com or you can follow us on instagram and twitter too that's at d w news. hi i'm neal i'm good welcome to the 2nd season of on the fence. the planet on the brink of disaster we did long in-depth interviews with experts about one question how to change. the effects.

it's hard to find an opening to my story. a tale of a small footnote in the history of our region. i can only write my own private memories of these 3 years of hope and anguish. is this a tale of triumph. or defeat. the ending to our story has not yet been written.

or is it. they weren't believe i'm not stupid. perhaps i should start with one decisive wednesday in july of 1902 professor he has failed call me up with a dangerous proposition to join him for a secret meeting with our sworn enemies the palestinian liberation organization known to all as the p.l.o. . joined us fighting shoulder to shoulder with the palestinian revolution against the zionist enemy palestine all of palestine is arab arab arab arab. the p.l.o. was a terrorist organization led by. a man many israelis considered hitler successor.

arafat's believed in armed struggle fighting for palestinian freedom he took pride in the slaughter of the athletes at the munich olympics opening fire on school children in monologues and planting deadly bombs all over israel. the problem was our thought was the only one palestinians looked up to he had the final say in only gunshy ations but israel refused to talk to him. i mean very good i'm against a palestinian state run by the p.l.o. shelby's out of the west you know no negotiations with the p.l.o. not sure but their goal was the most. 9 months before rabin had been elected to lead israel on a platform of peace and security. but as the months went by he delivered neither. with terror attacks on the rise and the peace process deadlocked the right wing

opposition threatened to overrun him before he even completed his 1st year. in a desperate attempt to renew the peace talks deputy minister yossi beilin decided to act outside the law and set up a secret back channel to negotiate with the p.l.o. . he approached his felt in me because we were the perfect fall guys 2 professors who had dedicated their careers to the israeli arab conflict but had no ties to the israeli government. we will enter a strange situation legally the law forbids us to come into contact with the palestinians i don't loose foliage if you don't go a quandary middle easterners without going for them and tolls very painful i mean moms. busses all over the world there were barracks there

that quite an organization of general. the oslo process which i like to call the accidental channel was neither preplanned nor preprogrammed my own partial involvement began in december 92 when i was sent by the p.l.o. to norway to meet secretly with 2 israeli professors. a mile long flight from tunisia to oslo i thought back on the day i was forced to flee my home and i would use on the p.l.o. was declared illegal. i left my family and home behind under the oppressive occupation of the israeli army and swore i would return the day we were liberated. and the past 25 years of being of been own to us as the bonebreaker the architect

of the iron fist policy of repression. the idea of meeting our occupiers face to face did not appeal to me at all but the freedom of palestine demanded all of us to take high risks. the 3 soldiers killed yesterday in gaza had been laid to rest an explosive device was found in a plastic bag under a bench in ramallah the border to gaza was closed and will remain so for a few more days. as we approached the secluded villa hidden deep within a norwegian forest a chill ran through my spine negotiating with terrorists was one thing in theory but now i was just hoping that we had made a terrible mistake. our

1st handshake was rather tense i scanned the people in front of me and matched their faces to the memos we had prepared back home. served as the palestinian minister of finance. beside him said court arafat's confidant. the youngest of the group was asked for a militant communist who was the most aggressive of the 3 the palestinians wanted to know who we were and who we represented but all we could say was that we were 2 professors who were here in defiance of the law. the morning started bad morning started who said only police didn't understand how difficult it was to live under nazi occupation in no way usually understand how difficult it was collude for them for us to live in these their local parish and it would have wanted to say something more irritating me him ok take me up like this is

a good sentencing you're not allowed to do if you legally think that there is any comparison between israelis and palestinians in the nazis if you ever say this again i'm going to stand up and move out it never came back it never came back again and i think it was a very it was it was a very unpleasant stop but it was an important stuff. we knew that all past negotiations had been fruitless and in order to temper being we'd have to come up with a completely new offer to be perfectly honest i said we're standing on the verge of a new war which will harm both sides we are serious in reaching an understanding with you and are open for a historic compromise. until now we have demanded your immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories but we realize it won't happen overnight. arafat wants to bring up the possibility of was draw from the gaza strip as

a 1st step towards peace. has failed and i exchanged glances although we were trying to conceal them. we were stunned. the p.l.o. was considered an extremist group and here was arafat's messenger with a game changing solution. now we were left with the most difficult task of all presenting the draft to the decision makers. so i don't paris i sent you know his burden on point of course not to meet some p.l.o. people and after some meetings they have this paper and i really want you to look at it and decide what we're going it's up but. then next day i'm asking him if she wanted you read the papers and know and so you know they did you read the paper.

and then you read it and then he understood that he had something that explosive in his head. been very. insecure observes the but i've goes well from my eyes i think about that there fred the important fact was that discovered there are probably. a plan to be thought about you had many plans like which i'm all for i take the bait of so full of friends i don't think that there are any addiction in the world if as so many a plan is it's already too late as i was in the middle of it. as the wave of terror in gulf the streets the protests outside the homes of rabin in paris had become routine the 2 leaders were stuck between a rock and a hard place they were losing their war against terror and the peace process showed

no sign of revival. perhaps the oslo channel was their only way out. with a heavy heart they authorized us to continue the talks as long as we exercised every precaution to keep the news from leaking if it became known we were deliberating with the p.l.o. it would be their last day in office. now that the leaders were involved we were no longer in the driver seat that is announced that they also channel would now be led by yuri severe the director general of the foreign ministry and join al singer our rigid military lawyer. now we are bringing a military lawyer with bombs. for more than a that was feeling it was the wall in the west bank in gaza and i come there to meet was the p.l.o. terror always there or so from my perspective for you it was like

a feel for. as i go into the room and see a war like the 1st time he comes to me and kisses me on both cheeks. to waist is kissing me. oh my caught i've been kissed by a host and probably you thought i just kissed a military former military i mean man dog kiss one another in the united states or in israel. that was the 1st time a man kissed me. before the 1st round of talks i decided to get acquainted with my counterpart. where are you from here jerusalem i replied. 'd i'm also from jerusalem he said

where is your father from he was born in germany my father is from jerusalem and still lives there he said. we could go all the way back to king david i replied and didn't try to conceal my anger i'm sure we could argue about the past for years and never reach an agreement let's try and see if we could agree on the future. all right he said and we reached our 1st mutual understanding we wouldn't argue about the past ever again. singer started the meeting by announcing that we had a real concrete proposal for the signed agreement. all traces of our optimistic document were raised and replaced by rabin's agenda that would security and defense before cooperation and coexistence rabin had refused to deliberate on the core

issues of the conflict demanding to discuss them at a later stage his offer did not include any mention of up rooting settlements dividing jerusalem the return of the palestinian refugees or definitive borders. as the reading commenced the palestinians astonishment grew. after a few minutes abu alaa turned to us for another quietly in arabic it's a massacre. the last round of talks left me more confused than ever despite sinkers humiliating offer it was clear we were now in the big leagues it was no longer an initiative of 2 peace loving professors but rather of her being and parents themselves. all the while the news painted an entirely different picture. being tightened is

fist every day demonstrators were being killed throughout palestine some of them innocent kids who should we believe the reality on t.v. or yuri's promises. the whole the show host 1000 israelis was not in the past. we made the following decision 1st to impose a closure on the west bank an addition to the closure on gaza and also starting tomorrow there will be no palestinians from the occupied territories on israeli laptop myself and i was just out load of other shots. for the 11th round in oslo we arrived with the proposition of our own perhaps singer and the israeli delegation thought we would surrender to their terms but that would not be the case our revised proposition stated the end goal would be un

resolution $242.00 demanding israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories. the palestinian proposition enraged me and i responded with hard right opposition we would not acknowledge resolution 242 because it meant retreating to the 1967 borders and we refused to discuss borders at that stage we started believing the p.l.o. were our partners in this but when we put our cards down the p.l.o. always backed away from any clear decision maybe people are right to say the palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. there was a lot of tension people walking out of the room slamming the doors but it was all it. you know we know. that they have

they spread it to reach an agreement. i just said let them. let kids we need to let all play out and then we'll just say no. the israelis dismissed our proposition refusing to discuss the definitive borders at this stage i said to europe you refuse to recognize our national right and insist on retaining all the settlements we prefer to wait another 10 years for a reasonable offer yuri fired back in that case you can keep waiting until the messiah comes. i sort of eerie we've made every possible effort to reach a peace agreement with you but unfortunately i now find myself unable to go on i

have decided to resign from the talks. the room fell silent a dark expression spread across abu alaa face and he seemed powerless as he rose to his feet and left the room best time it was really over. your house me i was feeling i didn't hide my emotions. both sides were stubborn and did not grasp the importance of the moment. i just could not continue this negotiation i told him if you can't cure the onus we must find its cause let's put aside the maps and the agreements and begin by recognizing each other as partners the p.l.o. will denounce all terror attacks against israel and we will stop viewing you as

terrorists and allow our a fight to return to his homeland. i promised during i would present his mutual recognition proposal to arafat in tunis perhaps this round of talks wasn't a complete failure after all i responded to a bone in our bodies and you left this area many years ago do you think be a dream about your coming back to your home that's my dream all the period so far that you go yet and what's to come if that as a citizen and it's too much for me. we will negotiating in all slow complete secrecy no one knew about working outside

of this really small recoup and then when we were. suddenly it leaked the story leaked oh. i see how to fill the may not have a secret talks between the p.l.o. and israel awoke snowbound author of from a sunday now they grabbed a lot of headlines with little actual information out of the press that lined up their location and content were no. the israeli embassy is absolutely desolate the security guards for that they knew nothing of the talks not to mention where they were held but it was our last stop in our search for the secret talks here at the king's palace as we can tell they are here either. here with me in tel aviv as deputy foreign minister yossi beilin is the recognition of the p.l.o. by israel official. i know nothing of any such recognition there is no such recognition. the worst thing that could happen was the premature exposure of the

channel reporters kept calling me and i consistently denied everything without giving any unnecessary explanations but i knew we couldn't keep up the charade much longer it was only a matter of time until it would hardly use the talks to make red beans and paris to my traitors who were conspiring with the murderous terrified. this would go to the people tell the truth tell them this is our intention to hand the heart of israel over to our fast and establish a palestinian state go to the people before you implement your plan we are trying to beat the clock by reaching an agreement before a prematurely could would stop the oil slick remember. the mutual recognition option excited the leadership in tunis and i was sent back to oslo with arafat support. and it seemed as if the israelis returned with

a deep desire to move forward as well. but you're sitting there in that guesthouse which the press made out to be a sort of dream cast little but that's how the press is simple to shift a very difficult month several terrorist attacks and you're sitting there talking in a businesslike manner gentlemanly making jokes that you're out of touch so if simmon . there's you know new talk and i hope we aren't out of touch we don't want to ignore the present or forget the past we're trying to set them aside for the moment and figure out together not how to make the past better but how to make the future better if i could put it over as so we created a bubble we aren't out of touch not from what happened to the jews or the arabs not from what's happening now but we're applying maximum force to try to get this process moving because if. we manage to progress simply middle

of differences to 5 open issues. and we went back and force and force and early in the morning falwell good morning we reached for agreement on those 5 issues. at 5 am the norwegians printer delivered the final draft of the declaration of principles for peace between israel and the p.l.o. it stated that as a 1st step israel would withdraw from gaza in jericho and grant the palestinians of already for self governance. in the 2nd stage which would take place within a year the palestinian authority would expand to most of the west bank. and within 5 years a permanent peace treaty would be signed addressing the core issues of settlements

palestinian refugees definitive borders and jerusalem. and the only it was strange there were 15 of us some of after hundreds of hours of negotiation crammed inside a small room of people signing our initials and the world knew nothing about the disconnect between the intimacy of a handful of people in that small room and agreement which is such a breakthrough made in such secrecy so they looked as though there wasn't a sense of euphoria or joyful emotions behind but

a sort of heaviness the strangeness was a little. i cried this week. the 1st time at 5 o'clock after we finished pretty good and. become jaded to each other. that during we said now we have to stop that he had a job but for development for construction for

a vacation that he says a start to the day we voted and it must be won by both of us thank you very much. and that is. we came in with a will yes please no. and we followed him out of through us of cause i know that you are the mayors who wish to live. by this many friends but they might be and are. in the wrong that in that we also or with great love about how to inform them that we've got a stuff of them. yeah

. good evening israel and the p.l.o. are not far from a historic embrace and i remember there was a t.v. set with people who stations norwegian swede feed me and everyone was talking in. foreign language was all slow going to be alone happy days for no no. no i was. all over the world but it was suddenly realized wow. it's talking. 29 years after declaring israel an illegal state the palestine liberation organization has decided to recognize israel's right to exist peacefully and after decades of calling the p.l.o. a terrorist organization israel finally recognizes the p.l.o. as the legitimate representative of the palestinian people given the history of the

palestinians and the israelis which is involved so much of the rest of the world. you know were staggering. the last minute negotiations went on for a day and a half. but when the haggard norwegian mediator arrived in tone as he said he had the historic documents a recognition in his back was 6 ask wasn't his doing he said modest labor belong to israeli prime minister rabin m.p.l. or chairman arafat in the one page letter from arafat to rabin the p.l.o. recognize the right of the state of israel to exist in peace and security in his return letter to arafat rabin says that in view of those commitments the government of israel has decided to recognize the p.l.o. as the representative of the palestinian people. i wonder. if this is the way i never expect to see.

her. murder her. in the middle east today israeli prime minister yitzhak rabin will fly to washington for the signing ceremony of the also the agreement between israel and the palestinians yasser arafat will write from june as for the signing which will be his 1st visit to america since the p.l.o. were denied entrance to the u.s. right wing opponents are calling the signing of the treaty treason while arab opposition is calling a traitor to the palestinian cause and threats of being made on his life. while in my last meeting with clinton just before the celebrations started he took me aside and said he wanted to concessions i said mr clinton we gave enough concessions and then this outburst said concession one could you prevail on mr arafat to come dressed in a french suit and abandon its military garb i said this was part of the way

his people view him so i said i'm sorry i can't give you that concession was the 2nd one so he said no hugging no kissing. and i said this is a very tough concession but for peace i do it. they brought the morning shows to the white house today so there were the bottom of the south lawn work and paula and bryant and. sure signs when history

was about to be made the people. think. that. no way think that says that they have to sing it. this and this it was it's not something that if they were realize what's going on today here. what is going to understand the situation what is the status of it. ladies and gentlemen mr arafat jamey of the executive council of the palestine liberation organization is excellent see inside of the prime minister of israel the president of the united states think it started in one to come to washington he says that i. don't want to say off but i'm going to convince him to stand up without a fight was clinton and as you saw the picture of the 2 of them where it was by force. finally starts shook the hands of far far it down to me into service now i see

you you do take it you went through the hell no i have to go through so it's very difficult for him why do you think it was. because there was against the poor law because it is how it was in there because you saw him out of. there always but you know i cannot change the past or family about it find it it's hard said it your mate is with your enemies not to their friends to everybody see there is a season and they're trying to mean is under heaven a time to be born and a time to die. and a time to heal. the weak and the dying to laugh at trying

to love and it trying to hate. dived full of. beach ladies and gentlemen the full page has come. the thought the be. brown. i feel proud but they are afraid to work on the failure. because we are still in the beginning of the star wars saga mr i should be and i

should be but at the same time also on my side. he left me because both of us should work very very very hard and we should trust each other. without to become a kid when you shook hands with mr me it looked like it was your idea not his he he he said it if it's by but i insisted and i can think is that in my hand. now looking at the longer term do you recognize that it was the ready has its way jerusalem as he puts it will never be the capital of a palestinian state do you recognise that you accept it it's your is it not true and if that's your decision yes is it your reasoning it is if it is in or you know exactly what is think.

israel is going to pull back from terrorism they never willing to believe they ever will i think if there is a will there is always if there isn't a will on their side one of those who knows. some weeks ago nobody was imagining that's where to find a solution and this agreement not to forget that they're only in wars at 20. this is i'll be a radio from jerusalem and hear the news one month after the historic signing in washington israel and the palestinians gather once again for a round of negotiations this time to implement the 1st stage of the oslo accord israel's withdrawal from gaza or jericho. going to go she will be led by israeli

deputy chief of staff. and on the palestinian side the bill shocked our offense chief advisor. my 1st meeting with gen i am not shocked was quite pleasant for the man betty modestly came to me and said of the shots here is my speech and you know i have never given speeches before i am a strange military man so why don't you look at that speech i felt that this was really very modest very positive starting point but between that 1st meeting and the 2nd meeting which came out after the weekend and so on for 5 days later i went through. google and other sources to find out about the contract. i found he was part of the raiding party that killed 3 of my dearest friends in beirut.

and i thought about that and i said i'm sorry i cannot get myself to negotiate with you i mean. it's very difficult these were very close friends of mine they're brothers there i don't know i don't feel like it's fair to negotiate with you so i'm in shock i said but no deal we are here so that we would never repeat that. on february 19th not because shontayne general shock presented us with the 1st draft of the gaza jericho agreement the draft was clearly pro israeli but promised us rewards we hadn't dreamed of just a year before such as passports and international airport in jericho and for the 1st time in history democratic palestinian elections we were on the right path but

our utopian bubble was destined to shatter violently. salaam other than a massacre and have brought dozens of palestinians were shot and killed by a settler during morning prayers on the cable of the patriarchs of the. at 5 am on friday february 25th dr by ruth goldstein a religious settler dressed in his army uniform grabbed an uzi submachine gun and opened fire on the people praying at the cave of the patriarchs my mom. 31 people were murdered during the massacre which ended only when goldstein himself was killed. along with. the news spread quickly and the violent riots broke out across the entire occupied territories. israeli soldiers opened fire on the protesters killing 9 palestinians

and injuring hundreds more. flavor of the holy move goldstein quickly established a fan base among the settlers hundreds attended his funeral home and many of them praised him as a hero and a saint oh no no no nothing else makes it show me urged rabin to clear hebrew and settlers it would be a brave move that could restore the palestinians trust in the peace process. but the army generals claim that vacating the settlers from hebrew one could cause a civil war rarely i have seen peres so determined to reach a decision that opposes the military. you know shorts say off or say i ju who is a murderer is a murderer you is not what you say one nazi in june who is a nazi is a nazi not

a jew you know by a man who claims to be a jew sneak something behind it and shoots worshipers in it back in a place which is sacred to be arabs and. clip after clip that i'm appalled what can i compare him to then yeah there she will compare him to arafat and you know i don't want to compare him to anyone compare him to arafat's own mother shot off a savage your plan your madness as you know that arafat made mistakes and i say he made mistakes and seems to that when he stood up and said no more war i recognize the state of israel and its right to security in the school taliban not be as lawyer was taught to fade out by lad arafat's life is in danger so i am the fear that this is why i pity him that sick at that i did love america that there's that girl he decided to stop the killing both that i 7 never had to endure you shut up

but there but there was i'm concerned for the children and i know that children need a path no dog at the moment i'm sure about that you are very kind and that is as i their but i want arafat to be that partner to make peace and lead his people to peace has a lot say and i say we need a real partner difficult has it made billions and we need to balance this part and leave behind his tragic history of murder and mistakes and terrorism moreover he should meet with us and look for a new way and not return to the past over to the rivers of blood to the dead end and let everything tremble from will and full length about their later years. the palestinians demanded the settlements be cleared out but israel refused and

instead put the arab residents of his brand under lockdown once again the victims or being punished. although a sign 82 percent of palestinians supported us supported us and they saw hope and they give every chance to get hope and then with their eyes they continued to see business as usual. settlement activities intelligence demolishing farms and so on i'm sawn song business as usual this is the land that's i was 3 up on a stance that why are they building settlements. our worst nightmare had come true arafat was torn between his people and the need to appease the americans and the israelis he was slowly losing his credibility in the eyes of the palestinians he was losing control.

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chilly. healtheon is my topic today where they say shows lack courage freshman fall your physical good and the psychological good energy. best to take a load is highly individual. there are a 1000000 ways to relax. life on earth moon is a kind and. gigantic coincidence. that tampa previously the earth was just a messy chemistry lab a thought machine. where the improbable but one of.

the creation of our solar system with our planet is a bit like winning a lottery ticket up there is a little bit of. what is earth more unique start september 18th on d w. this is d w news and these are our top stories israel has become the 1st country to impose a 2nd national lockdown to combat a surge in corona virus cases prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the through a closure will begin next friday the start of the jewish new year holiday israel has been seen some 4000 new cases a day.