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TOPIC: palestine

Geopolitics

Where To Look When The Very Idea Of Peace Is Gone?

The signing of the Oslo Accords 30 years ago was followed by a failure that set back the very idea of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. A look back at this historic episode and the lessons we can learn from it today.

-Analysis-

PARIS — Thirty years ago to the day, I was standing in Jerusalem's Old City, near the Jaffa Gate. Two young Palestinians were putting up a poster of Yasser Arafat when an Israeli guard appeared.

Everyone froze in fear, thinking a confrontation was about to happen. But the soldiers went on their way without a care in the world for the young Palestinians. Arafat's face appeared on a wall in Jerusalem.

A few hours later, thousands of miles away, on the White House lawn, the famous handshake took place between the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, overseen by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

They had just signed the Oslo Accords, which they hoped would put an end to a century of conflict — just like the scene of détente I had witnessed in Jerusalem.

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This Happened — September 13:  The Oslo Accord Is Signed

The Oslo Accords consist of two main agreements: the Oslo I Accord, also known as the Declaration of Principles, was signed on this day in 1993, in Washington, D.C. The Oslo II Accord was signed on September 28, 1995, in Taba, Egypt. These agreements marked significant milestones in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, though they didn't ultimately live up to their promise.

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U.S. To Send Controversial Shells To Kyiv, Mexico Decriminalizes Abortion, Vi$it V€nice

👋 Dumêlang!*

Welcome to Thursday, where the U.S. says it will supply Ukraine with controversial uranium-based anti-tank shells, Mexico throws out all criminal penalties for abortions, and Venice will soon start charging daytrippers. Meanwhile, for French economic daily Les Echos, Leïla Marchand looks at the “Wild West” of bosses monitoring their remote workers.

[*Northern Sotho, South Africa]

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This Happened — September 5: Munich Olympics Terrorist Attack

The Munich Olympics terrorist attack happened on this day in in 1972.

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In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin, Anne-Sophie Goninet, Chloé Touchard and Valeria Berghinz

Niger Ultimatum, Pakistan Blast Aftermath, Michelle Yeoh’s Very Long Engagement

👋 Muraho!*

Welcome to Monday, where West African countries issue a one-week ultimatum to Niger’s junta, the death toll is expected to rise after a suicide bombing at a political rally in Pakistan killed at least 45, and Michelle Yeoh marries her Swiss beau Jean Todt some 19 years after he first proposed. Meanwhile, Martin Krause in Argentine daily Clarín explains why today’s youth ought to give iconic author Jorge Luis Borges a (re-)read.

[*Kinyarwanda, Rwanda]

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Geopolitics
Dominique Moïsi

Why Israel's "Splendid Isolation" Is Doomed To Fail

The Israeli army's operation last week in the Jenin camp was particularly striking in its scale and violence, further undermining any hope of appeasement in the region or the newfound alliance with Arab countries, or even among American Jews. What if Israeli politics, instead, was inspired by the nation's Netflix series scriptwriters?

-Analysis-

PARIS — On television screens around the world, the images appear in a steady chain, one after another — and they start to blend together.

There are endless divides between Ukraine and the West Bank: geography, history, geopolitical stakes. Everything except the most fundamental point: civilian victims. By intervening as they did in Jenin a few days ago, the Israeli armed forces were targeting an operational command center of the "Jenin Brigades."

But this intervention, the largest since 2005 (counting between 500 and 1,000 men, accompanied by armored vehicles, under the protection of the air force and drones) took place in the heart of a refugee camp of 14,000 people. Refugees who are often the children and grandchildren of Palestinians who have been – or are still – living in camps since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

This escalating violence is unlikely to lead to a third intifada, but it does make any hope of a political solution even more far-off and abstract. Was the Zionist ideal embodied by Theodor Herzl and David Ben-Gurion to impose survival of the fittest on its neighbors? Could that somehow erase from memory the Jews' own tragic history, in which they found themselves in the position of the weakest? Do children who've been abused tend to reproduce, as adults, the abuses of which they were the victims?

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Geopolitics
Pierre Haski

Israel-Palestine, The Eternal Proof That Violence Is The Absence Of Politics

Israel's military operation in Jenin is the latest escalation of bloodshed. Once again, the language of violence has prevailed because there is no political solution on the horizon.

-Analysis-

PARIS — Who still believes that a military solution is possible between Israelis and Palestinians? No reasonable person, apparently. And yet, once again, the language of violence prevails when there is no political solution possible or foreseeable.

This observation could have been made half a century ago just as it is being made today, following a rapid-fire full-scale war operation carried out by the Israeli army in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank. A terrorist attack claimed by Palestinian Hamas islamists has also occurred in Tel Aviv.

We hadn't seen anything like this from Israel in 20 years — airstrikes, tanks, hundreds of soldiers assaulting a densely populated Palestinian city.

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Geopolitics
Pierre Haski

The West Bank On Fire? Ask The 'Pyromaniacs' In Netanyahu's Coalition

In the West Bank, tensions are at a new high after the death of a 15-year-old boy during a clash between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters. The incident, coupled with the growing influence Israel's far-right political figures and an intensified use of force, is pushing the region to a critical point.

-Analysis-

PARIS — The last time the Israeli army used a combat helicopter against Palestinians in the West Bank was 18 years ago, during the second intifada. That's the sort of violence reached Monday in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, where an Israeli attack helicopter opened fire to free soldiers under attack.

The Israeli army had raided the center of Jenin to arrest a member of the Islamist movement Hamas. They were greeted by explosive devices and gunfire, which stoked a heated battle. Five Palestinians were killed and 91 wounded, as well as several Israeli soldiers. A Palestinian journalist clearly wearing a press insignia was hit in the abdomen.

The escalation may not stop there. Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right minister granted responsibility over the Palestinian territories, quickly tweeted: "We must put an end to one-off actions, and launch a vast anti-terrorist operation in northern Samaria" – the religious name for the West Bank. While settlers agree with this proposal, the army is apparently reluctant to carry out such a high-risk operation.

But this was not an isolated incident: it must be understood in the context of rising tensions in the West Bank – since the beginning of last year – even before the coalition with the extreme right.

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Geopolitics
Pierre Haski

Soft Power, Hard Ball: Why The U.S. Wants Back In UNESCO

The U.S. is set to rejoin UNESCO, after Donald Trump pulled the country out in 2017, accusing it of being biased against Israel. The reasons for the return include artificial intelligence and pure geopolitics.

-Analysis-

PARIS — When the U.S. takes a diplomatic initiative in the current climate, China is never far from its thoughts. This is partly the case with Washington's decision, announced yesterday, to rejoin UNESCO after several years of absence. A decision made all the more spectacular in that the U.S. has even pledged to pay its arrears of dues — hundreds of millions of dollars.

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In The News
Marine Béguin, Yannick Champion-Osselin, Anne-Sophie Goninet and Chloé Touchard

Russia Kills 10 In Zelensky Hometown, Trump Heads To Court, With A Little Help From AI

👋 Hej!*

Welcome to Tuesday, where a Russian missile strike kills at least 10 in Zelensky's hometown, Former President Donald Trump lands in Florida ahead of his court appearance, and Paul McCartney teases a new Beatles song. Meanwhile, we feature a special investigation by Colombian daily El Espectador on the so-called “Aragua Train,” the largest criminal organization in Venezuela engaged in forced prostitution and people-smuggling operations.

[*Danish]

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This Happened

This Happened — June 10: The Six-Day War Ends

On this day in 1967, the Six-Day War came to an end, as Israel faced off against its Arab neighbors, including Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

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In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin, Chloé Touchard, Marine Béguin and Jeff Israely

Zelensky To Hiroshima, Israel Flag Day Clashes, Nadal Knocked Out

👋 Bonjour!*

Welcome to Friday where Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to show up in person at the Hiroshima G7 summit, violence erupts again over Israel’s flag day holiday and tennis legend Rafal Nadal says he’s out of this year’s French Open (with an announcement about next year). We also feature a reportage from Brazilian news media Agência Pública on the continuing influence of Nazi ideology in parts of the country’s far right.

[*French]

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