(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Washington (DC), 13. September 1993. On the lawn behind the White House, the world press is battling for camera space. The spokesman for the Palestinian delegation, Hanan Ashrawi, is asked by a reporter if she knows what is about to happen. With happiness in her eyes, she replies: "We must attend the beginning of the Palestinian state." Then the door opens, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, US President Bill Clinton and Palestine's Yasir Arafat join the press corps in calm steps.
After speaking and formally signing the Oslo agreement, Arafat leans forward and reaches out to Rabin. The hand is hanging. Clinton shoots at Rabin. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is twisting. Arafat holds out his hand, indomitable. A clearly inconvenient Rabin finally grabs Arafat's hand and gives it a brief push. Applause. Peace has been adopted.
It is the time around this historic moment that Israeli directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan have moved closer to the seams. The Oslo Diaries is a collage of archival footage from 1993 to 1996, the key characters' diary notes and new interviews with several of the proponents of the peace talks – as well as staging where actors bring the secret talks to life.
"We must attend the beginning of the Palestinian state."
- Hanan Ashrawi, Washington 1993
The documentary recently had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Canada. The directors say they want to show a different side to the Oslo agreement – which both Palestinians and Israelis like to call "Bloody Oslo", albeit for various reasons. Or rather it was about the work up to the agreement: It er possible to lay down arms and search together for a peaceful future. They claim today's Israeli leaders lack the will to work for peace that the Oslo delegation had in the early 90s. IN The Oslo Diaries we see a 25-year-old Benjamin Netanyahu thunder from the pulpit in the Israeli parliament, Knesset: “Rabin – you say the Bible doesn't do us justice. But you are wrong! Bible gir us the right to this land! It is the one that gives us our mandate, it is our proof of ownership! ” Rabin was shot and killed by the Jewish Vendetta Group on November 4, 1995, right after a large-scale peace mark in Tel Aviv. Six months later, May 5, 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected new Prime Minister of Israel. With him in the chair, all sincere peace initiatives weathered.
To trust the enemy. The film allows us to get particularly close to the main dealers Abu Ala and Uri Savir. They both appear to be genuine in their longing for the success of a peace agreement. During the years they worked together, the two developed a friendship that – in contrast to the agreement they negotiated – has survived to this day. Their own accounts portray the sometimes clumsy attempts to get closer to each other, both humanly and politically: During a break on the veranda, Abu Ala's need for recognition of the injustice to which the Palestinian people have been subjected is cash-rejected by Savir. They chat about Jerusalem – the city they both come from. By the early 90s, the PLO had been branded an illegal terrorist organization, and like most Palestinian politicians and diplomats, Abu Ala had been forced to seek refuge outside Palestine. But his family still lived in Jerusalem and had done so for generations. Abu Ala asks Uri where his father comes from. "Germany," he replies. The conversation intensifies, Savir cuts through: "We will never argue about the past again!" The striking thing about this informal talk, and similar situations in the film, is that it highlights the difficult premise of a lasting peace: the victim's willingness and ability to forgive and look beyond the abuse, keep his eyes hopefully forward, have enough courage to trust on the abuser. And Abu Ala answers «Okay».
They are reaching an agreement in which the Palestinians are promised full control over Gaza and the West Bank, their own passports and even the possibility of a Palestinian airport in Jericho, all within five years. Only 15 people are present when Abu Ala and Uri Savir sign the agreement in August 1993 in Oslo, and dedicate the document to their children and their future: “We were introduced to each other as enemies, but in each other we found interlocutors with truth, depth and against. You are exactly the neighbors we want to have. "
The scene makes a tremendous impression in light of today's reality on the ground. One can imagine that all wars and conflicts could have been resolved if the combatants were only brave enough to have empathy and to get to know "the other" properly.
"We were introduced to each other as enemies, but in each other we found interlocutors with truth, depth and courage."
- Uri Savir, Oslo 1993
Betrayal. Ahead of the solemn gathering later in Washington (DC), Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat exchange letters. Arafat is clear: "The PLO recognizes the state of Israel's right to exist in peace and security." Rabin fails: "Israel recognizes the PLO as representatives of the Palestinian people." The mismatch stings the eyes. Why are so few world leaders calling for Israeli recognition that the Palestinians also have the right to live in peace and security? The last part of the film is a depressing – but informative – demonstration of betrayal and breach of trust where the Palestinians are repeatedly left with an outstretched hand, empty hanging in the air.
Where Abu Ala and Uri Savir represent a sincere hope for a better tomorrow, the voices of Yossi Beilin (who worked in the Foreign Ministry and played a key role in the development of the agreement) and Hanan Ashrawi (Palestinian politician in the PLO) appear sad and realistic. Beilin saw that the Palestinians were failing point by point in the agreement, which led to problems for the Palestinian leaders – and he feared the consequences. Ashrawi, on the other hand, expresses guilt over having failed. "It was personal. People had hope. We thought we had done it. "
After the assassination of Rabin, Arafat said: "They killed the peace agreement." But Yossi Beilin was unwilling to let go and went to Shimon Peres, hoping he would take action and implement the deal. This was a unique opportunity – the people city have peace. But Peres gave him a sullen no answer. "I do not forgive myself for not pushing harder. The moment will never come back. "
Norway had a small toe in the process of establishing the state of Israel in 1947, with Trygve Lie – the UN's first secretary general – as a self-proclaimed birth helper. 45 years later we were given a little finger. Norway failed to do justice on both occasions, and thus bears a special responsibility to help restore it. We could start by ending the arms trade to Israel – today exported via Nammo Tally in the USA.
Appears April 20 Vika 1, with subsequent panel discussion
"Can the peace process be revived?"
Read Truls Lie's interview with Hanan Ashrawi from 2013 in
Le Monde Diplomatique (behind payment wall)
