The view from Palestine: In the wake of the agreement

Abstract

The Palestinian-Israeli agreement of 13 September 1993 reached through secret talks brought to an end the process of seemingly futile negotiations that had been going on for almost two years, since the Madrid Peace Conference of 29 October 1991. While the agreement by no means ended the state of division and factional competition that had engulfed Palestinian society since the decision to participate in the Madrid process, the waning of the intifada, and the "siege" imposed by the Gulf states against the Palestinians after the Gulf war, there is nonetheless an internal Palestinian consensus that a turning point has been reached in the Palestinian/Arab-Israeli conflict and relations.