Press Releases
Bethlehem, 14 September 2021. BADIL Resource Center for Residency and Refugee Rights has issued its latest working paper no. 27, Youth Perspectives on the Oslo Peace Process: Successes, Failures and Alternatives.
This paper, which BADIL is publishing 28 years following the signing of the Oslo Accords, provides a comprehensive analysis of the peace process and the changes that have ensued in relation to the Palestine case in the aftermath of the Oslo process. It importantly examines Palestinian youth’s perspectives about the peace process’ success or failure as well as their conceptualization of potential alternative solutions and fundamental features of a future state.
The paper comes in light of the escalating pace of Israeli violations and crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including forced displacement, land grab and colony expansion. It further coincides with Israel’s continuation of its colonial enterprise while enjoying a vortex of impunity. This lack of international accountability has entrenched Israel’s apartheid regime, impaired the Palestinian people’s national rights, and undermined practical possibilities for realizing the Palestinian right to self-determination.
This working paper is significant in that it provides a thorough analysis of Palestinian youth’s perspectives surrounding the peace process based on a survey that BADIL conducted between 15 April 2021 and 10 May 2021. The survey comprised approximately 700 young Palestinian men and women aged 18-35 in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, 1948 Palestine, and the diaspora. Per the survey, a majority of Palestinian youth believe that the Oslo peace process has not only failed, but has also advanced the Zionist-Israeli colonial enterprise in Palestine and has increased Israel’s impunity. The paper further reveals the Palestinian youth’s lack of confidence in both the international community and the parties involved in the peace process due to their perceived ineffectiveness.
Through this paper, BADIL has reaffirmed that involving Palestinian youth is crucial for formulating innovative alternative approaches that facilitate moving beyond the Oslo peace process’ framework. Palestinian youth’s responses have further reflected their belief in the necessity for addressing the root causes of the ongoing ‘conflict’ and adopting a human rights-based approach to create a new reality based on democratic values and international principles.
The research paper will be officially launched in a press conference in Ramallah on 12 October 2021, in the presence of a number of Palestinian politicians, representatives of diplomatic missions, and local and international civil society institutions.
Excerpts, brochures and informational materials will also be published to disseminate the paper’s findings. For more information, please follow BADIL's page on social media.
Click here to access the electronic version of the document.