(1975- ) A Palestinian citizen of Israel political figure. As of 2015, Odeh leads the political party Hadash, which is part of the historic union of Arab political parties in Israel known as The Joint List. Odeh, a lawyer from Haifa, is head of the Joint List. Odeh became the Secretary General of Hadash in 2006, and became the party's leader ahead of the 2015 elections, in which he became a member of the Israeli Knesset, with the Joint List being the third largest bloc. In his political career, Odeh has focused on issues of social justice and equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, including advocating on behalf of unrecognized villages in the Negev/Naqab desert. See "Q&A: Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List," Dalia Hatuqa, Al Jazeera English, March 16, 2015; and "Arab Alliance Rises as Force in Israeli Election," Diaa Hadid, The New York Times, March 15, 2015.
(1945- ) A Jewish Israeli political figure. A long-time member of the Likud party he left Likud in 2006 to help form the Kadima party after Israel's Gaza Disengagement. Olmert has served in both municipal and national governmental positions, including parliament member from 1973-1993, Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993-2003 and Prime Minister from 2006-2009. During his tenure as Prime Minister, he oversaw the 2006 Lebanon War, his handling of which was sharply criticized, took part in the 2007 Annapolis Conference, and ordered the 2008 Gaza War. Olmert stepped down as Kadima party leader in July 2008 due to corruption allegations and officially left his post as Prime Minister in February 2009. He was indicted on multiple corruption charges and in 2012; he was convicted on one count of "breach of trust" and acquitted on two fraud counts. In 2014, he was convicted of bribery and sentenced to prison for six years. See "Profile: Ehud Olmert," BBC, August 20, 2009; and "Israel ex-PM Ehud Olmert jailed for six years for bribery," BBC, May 13, 2014.
The term "Occupation" is used to refer to Israel's military control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since the 1967 War. It may also refer to Israel's occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981; however, international legal bodies do not recognize the annexation. For more about the legal apparatus that Israel use to uphold the occupation, see the 2011 documentary film "The Law in These Parts" or read "How the Occupation Became Legal," Eyal Press, The New York Review of Books, Jan 2011.
Also known as the Territories, "East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip," or, by those who want to emphasize a Biblical Jewish connection to the land, often for political reasons, "Judea and Samaria." The term generally refers to two non-contiguous territories captured by Israel following the 1967 War and whose Palestinian residents live under military occupation, but does not usually include the Golan Heights (which Israel annexed in 1981, though the annexation is not recognized by international legal bodies) or the Sinai Peninsula (which Israel returned to Egypt in 1979.) The occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza is recognized by the international community and the territories are treated as such by international legal instruments. The OPT, or some part of, are slated to be the basis for an independent Palestinian slate. Certain factions in Israel consider the OPT an integral part of biblical Israel and thus modern political Israel. See "Occupied Palestinian Territory," United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Following the outbreak of the Second Intifada on September 28, 2000, Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrated in a number of villages and cities, expressing solidarity with Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as protesting against inequality and neglect within Israel. Israeli police used rubber bullets, snipers and live ammunition in many of the demonstrations, killing 12 Palestinian citizens of Israel (including a 17-year old boy) and one Palestinian from Gaza who was inside Israel. The clashes were investigated by a special committee of inquiry - the Or Commission - headed by an Israeli Supreme Court Justice. The commission found that police used excessive force in quelling the demonstrations and exhibited prejudice against the Palestinian minority and recommended an internal police investigation. The commission also found that three Arab political/religious leaders bore responsibility for incitement. The Israeli Attorney General closed the case in 2008 without there being accountability for the police officers. The events highlighted and deepened the rift between Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel and the alienation of Palestinian citizens of Israel from the Israeli state. See "The Accused-Part II: Failures and Omissions by the Attorney General in Investigating the October 2000 Events," Adalah, January, 2011; and "Israeli Bullet Ends a Life In Two Worlds," Lee Hockstader, The Washington Post, Oct 5, 2000.
An Israeli commission headed by Justice Theodor Or that investigated the October 2000 events in which 12 Palestinian citizens of Israel (and one Palestinian from Gaza Strip) were killed by Israeli forces during demonstrations in Palestinian villages and towns inside Israel at the start of the Second Intifada. The commission found that Israeli police used excessive force (including snipers and live ammunition) in quelling the demonstrations and exhibited prejudice against the Palestinian minority. It reprimanded eight police officers (two of whom were released from their posts) and recommended an internal police investigation. The report also condemned two politicians who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, for incitement. Additionally, the commission found the Israeli government acted with neglect and discrimination with regard to its treatment of Palestinian citizens. This was the first official Israeli acknowledgment of inequality between the Arab and Jewish sectors in Israel. See "Adalah comments on the Or Commission of Inquiry Report," Adalah, The Electronic Intifada, September 2003; and "October 2000: Law & Politics before the Or Commission of Inquiry," Marwan Dalal, Adalah, July 2003.
Owned by the al-Husseini family, the Orient Houseserved as the headquarters for the Palestine Liberation Organization in East Jerusalem. During the Oslo Process, the Israeli government accused the Palestinian Authority of functioning out of the Orient Housein an attempt to expand Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem. In August 2001, Israel closed the Orient House, seizing files and computers, including personal books and documents of Faisal al-Husseini. See the Orient House's website.
Also referred to as the Oslo Agreements, or, simply, "Oslo." The Oslo Accords are a series of agreements that launched the Oslo Process, aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace treaty between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Oslo Process was unveiled with the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DOP) by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993, and was the first peace agreement signed by Israelis and Palestinians. It was preceded by a series of backchannel meetings begun by academics under the aegis of the Norwegian government, which, over a period of months, became official, though still secret. Israel recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative body of the Palestinian people and the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace and security. The DOP called for a phased peace process that would lead to a permanent settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on United Nation Resolutions 242 and United Nations Resolution 338. The agreement did not directly address the key "permanent status" issues of water, refugees, Jerusalem, settlements and borders, but set up a structure for them to be negotiated at a later stage of the process, once trust was built. It also led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as part of the 1995 Oslo Interim Agreement. The Oslo Process was set back with the assassination of Rabin in November 1995, and by a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings as well as an Israeli attack on Lebanon in 1996. The election of Benjamin Netanyahu (who opposed the Oslo Accords) as Israeli Prime Minister in May 1996 made continuing the Process more difficult. Additionally, Israel expanded settlements and erected more checkpoints after the start of the Oslo Process, causing many Palestinians (even ones who has supported the Process initially) to feel the occupation was becoming even more entrenched under Oslo. After the failure of the Camp David (II) Summit in 2000 and the subsequent outbreak of the Second Intifada, the Oslo Process collapsed. In retrospect, majorities of both sides tend to see the Process as a mistake, with each side convinced the other had no real intention of making peace. There are many criticisms of the Accords themselves, including that the text never mentioned nor promised an independent Palestinian state. See "The Morning After," Edward Said, London Review of Books, October 21, 1993; and "Arafat's Camel," Avi Shlaim, London Review of Books, October 21, 2003. See also "It's now clear: the Oslo peace accords were wrecked by Netanyahu's bad faith,"; Avi Shlaim, The Guardian, Sept 12, 2013; and "The Oslo Accords, 20 Years Later," Institute for Middle East Understanding, Sept 11, 2013.
Small Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (specifically the West Bank) that were established without authorization from the Israeli government. Though Israel considers these outposts to be illegal, a 2005 Israeli governmental report uncovered that most of the then 100+ outposts received financial and material support from various Israeli ministries, and are often protected by the Israeli military. In 2012, the Israeli government set up an "outpost committee" which issued the "Levy Report," recommending that the outposts be authorized. See "Settlement Outposts," Foundation for Middle East Peace.\r\nSee also "At least 70 outposts are located on private Palestinian land," Hagit Ofran and Lara Friedman, Peace Now, March 2, 2011; and "Validate Settlements, Israeli Panel Suggests," Isabel Kershner, The New York Times, July 9, 2012.