May 4th...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Rabin and Arafat sign accord for Palestinian self-rule 1994

 

On May 4, 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat reached agreement in Cairo on the first stage of Palestinian self-rule.

The agreement was made in accordance with the Oslo Accords, signed inWashington, D.C.on September 13, 1993. This was the first direct, face-to-face agreement betweenIsrael and the Palestinians and it acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. It was also designed as a framework for future relations between the two parties.

The Gaza-Jericho agreement signed on this day in history addressed four main issues: security arrangements, civil affairs, legal matters and economic relations.It included an Israeli military withdrawal from about 60 percent of the Gaza Strip (Jewish settlements and their environs excluded) and the West Bank town of Jericho, land captured by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. The Palestinians agreed to combat terror and prevent violence in the famous “land for peace” bargain. The document also included an agreement to a transfer of authority from the Israeli Civil Administration to the newly created Palestinian Authority, its jurisdiction and legislative powers, a Palestinian police force and relations betweenIsrael and the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli Defense Forces withdrew from Jericho on May 13 and from most of the Gaza Strip on May 18-19, 1994. Palestinian Authority police and officials immediately took control. During the first few days there was a spate of attacks on Israeli troops and civilians in and near the Strip. Arafat himself arrived in Gaza to a tumultuous, chaotic welcome on July 1.

As time went on,timetables stipulated in the dealwere not met, Israel’s re-deployments were slowed and new agreements were negotiated. Israeli critics of the deal claimed “Land for Peace” was in reality “Land for Nothing.”

The momentum toward peaceful relations between Israel and the Palestinians was seriously jolted by the outbreak of the 2000 Palestinian uprising, known as “Second Intifada.” Further strain was put on the process after Hamas came into power in the 2006 Palestinian elections.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1776 Rhode Island declares independence

• Automotive

• 1984 Bruce Springsteen releases “Pink Cadillac”

• Civil War

• 1864 Army of the Potomac crosses the Rapidan

• Cold War

• 1980 Tito dies

• Crime

• 1886 A riot breaks out in Haymarket Square
• 1990 An inhumane execution

• Disaster

• 2002 Nigerian aircraft crashes in crowded city

• General Interest

• 1886 The Haymarket Square Riot
• 1970 National Guard kills four at Kent State
• 1979 Margaret Thatcher sworn in

• Hollywood

• 1929 Audrey Hepburn born

• Literary

• 1948 Norman Mailer’s first novel, The Naked and the Dead, is published

• Music

• 1956 Gene Vincent records “Be-Bop-A-Lula”

• Old West

• 1847 Jack Slade joins the army

• Presidential

• 1865 Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois
• 1977 David Frost interviews Richard Nixon

• Sports

• 1965 Willie Mays breaks National League home run record

• Vietnam War

• 1961 Rusk reports on Viet Cong strength
• 1970 Four students killed at Kent State

• World War I

• 1916 Germany agrees to limit its submarine warfare

• World War II

• 1945 As the Nazi threat dies, the Red Army rises