On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Oslo Accords, members of the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) and Palestinian Civil Society Organizations have held a press briefing at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the Palestinian city of al-Bireh. The briefing focused on the facts that have kept Palestinians grounded in two decades of poverty and despair after the signing of the accords. According to a factsheet issued by Oxfam, Israeli settlers have more than doubled from 262,500 in 1993 to over 520,000 today, including 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem. These settlers live in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, throughout the West Bank. Other issues brought up in the fact sheet include the appropriation of Palestinian land, Israeli control of Palestinian water resources as well as 17 other negative affects of Israel's ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories. Also according to the Oxfam factsheet, Israel has demolished over 15,000 Palestinian structures across the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the signing of the accords in 1993. The structures include homes, water systems, and other vital properties, in addition to current 4,500 outstanding demolition orders on Palestinian structures. In Jerusalem al-Quds alone, Israel has demolished over 1,600 Palestinian structures since 1993, and more than 86,500 Palestinians are potentially at risk of having their homes demolished. The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangement was an interim agreement signed by Israel and the PLO on the White House lawn on the 13th of September 1993. It has been crystal clear to the Palestinian people, who have been held hostage to the so-called peace process for twenty years that they have not even gained their basic rights from the results of the Oslo Accords. Since every aspect of their lives has been negatively affected by the supposedly interim agreement, many Palestinians fear that Mahmoud Abbas will make the same disastrous mistake that he made in Washington DC 20 years ago and sign another agreement with the occupier after the end of the current negotiations with Israel.

• published: 12 Sep 2013
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