The Oslo Accords: A Criminal and Political Fraud

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By

Sami Jamil Jadallah

I was in Washington, DC watching the ceremony of Israeli killers and murderers shaking hands with Yasser Arafat, the most corrupt, incompetent and fraudulent leader in Palestinian history.

I watched as many local Palestinians and Arabs were tripping over themselves as they received invitations to attend the ceremony of the signing of the Oslo Accords, the political and criminal fraud perpetuated by the Palestinian leadership of Arafat and the PLO.

Oslo was never about ending the Israeli Military and Settler’s Occupation, nor was it about Jerusalem and the Rights of Return of Palestinians. It was a financial and security agreement between Israel as an occupying power and the PLO as an illegitimate fraudulent organization.

One only needs to read what is written about Oslo, how it came about, the negotiations that took place, and the team of Palestinian negotiators to know that Arafat and the PLO dispatched the most incompetent, if not stupid team to negotiate Oslo.

While Rabin went out of his way to secure the support of the best of the best of Israeli jurists and negotiators, reaching out to teams outside of the Israeli government, Arafat on the other hand, lacking any credible team of negotiators or competent lawyers or experts, dispatched a team of two persons lacking any competency in any field or expertise other than presiding over the disappearance of over $2 billion of investments that simply disappeared (SAMED Industries) that was never accounted for. They hardly spoke or understood plain English let alone understanding the complex legal “Talmudic” language of the Israeli team.

While Israel threw at the Palestinian team a list of over 100 questions as to their vision, the clueless Palestinian’s only concern was to secure a political and financial future for Arafat and the PLO, which they did.

In return for full unconditional recognition of Israel and its Occupation, Arafat was very satisfied to have Israel recognize the PLO as the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” thus securing the political and financial future of the PLO.

As it happens Arafat came back with all those who failed to “liberate” Palestine with a team of thugs whom he appointed to head his Preventive Security ensuring the safety of his “regime” and the safety of the Israeli Occupation and criminal trespassing settlers.

Many people, especially the Palestinians, simply forget that it was Arafat and his recognition of Israel that opened the doors to Israel to the Arab and Muslim worlds. Of course, if the Palestinians represented by the PLO can recognize Israel and open channels of communications, why not the Arab and Muslim countries?

To show the corruption and incompetency of Arafat and the PLO, there was never a credible legal department, since Arafat ran the PLO as his own private domain, marginalizing the discredited Palestinian National Congress, he used as a doormat, only for media and public relations.

When the PLO began to negotiate with Israel after Oslo, Arafat and the PLO discovered that not only did he select incompetent almost illiterate ministers to negotiate with their Israeli counterparts, he also lacked the kind of expertise needed to negotiate such important issues such as water, borders, etc.

Then came the Adam Smith Institute (British) to the rescue hiring some of the best legal Palestinian brains from around the world. But then how can such a professional team deal with incompetent and stupid political appointees, with no use for well researched papers, preferring to wing it rather than deal with a well prepared Israel team that came with maps, date, position papers, etc.

A friend of mine, an expert on water resources at the World Bank, told me over coffee that Israel during Oslo and after Oslo came to the World Bank seeking all the data and research on water and water resources of Palestine. The PLO never even bothered to seek similar information.

It is so sad and tragic that the majority of Palestinian political and influential thinkers never dared to address nor raise questions about the incompetency and corruption of the PLO and its leadership, preferring instead to give excuses for such leadership over the last 50 years.

One only needs to think of the more than $50 billion the PLO saved Israel over the last 25 years, managing and paying the civil administration of the Israeli Occupation, more troubling is the $1 billion annual budget that goes to the Palestinian Security Forces that never saved one single Palestinian life nor one single olive tree.

It is very unlikely that the Palestinian people will ever hold the PLO and its leadership accountable for all of its failings, never mind its legendary corruption. They have no one to blame but themselves.

I wonder what all of those who tripped over themselves to attend such a historic and tragic event for Palestine and the Palestinians have to say about Oslo after 25 years of perpetual fraud and lies. A political crime that rises to treason.

Sami Jamil Jadallah

Sami Jamil Jadallah is a US citizen, an immigrant from Palestine with over 35 years of international legal and business experience in the US, Middle East, Europe and North Africa. He is a Veteran of the US Army and holds a BA degree in political science and economics, a master degree in public and environmental affairs and doctor of jurisprudence from Indiana University.

Active in international and local affairs, Sami is a co-drafter of the Preamble for the Constitution of the One State for All of its People in Palestine and is active in veteran’s affairs in support of their re-integration in American society. He lectures and writes on a variety of topics including terrorism, social, economic and political issues related to the US and the Middle East.

Sami believes that education is the only way to transform the Middle East into a peaceful productive region and calls on all foreign troops to get out of the Middle East, leaving the people to shape their own destiny. Sami is in semi-retirement but fully engaged in voluntary work and engaged in the peace movement in the Middle East.