1996
Uri Avnery awarded honorary citizenship of Kafr
Qassem on 40th anniversary of Suez Crisis, in recogni-
tion of his part in exposing the massacre that took place there on the eve of the fighting
2000
29 September: Ariel Sharon, chairman of Likud Party
and leader of the opposition in Israeli parliament,
visits Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Second Intifada
begins after violent Palestinian reaction that escalates and spreads across Israeli and PA territory. Large
numbers of civilians killed on both sides with vio-
lence continuing into present day
2001
6 February: Likud leader Ariel Sharon becomes Prime
Minister of Israel replacing Ehud Barak
2002
29 March-10 May: “Operation Homat Magen”
(‘Defensive Shield’). Israeli Army tries to demolish infrastructure of Palestinian resistance. Yasser Arafat under virtual house arrest in his headquarters (the
Muqataa) in Ramallah, until flown to Paris in
November 2004 for medical treatment
2003
July: Work on controversial “Security Wall” begins, deviating from 1949 Armistice (“Green”) Line
between Israel and West Bank, and including on the
“Israeli” side areas of West Bank territory
2004
Construction of wall declared “contrary to interna-
tional law” by International Court of Justice
10 September: Uri Avnery receives 80th birthday video
message from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat,
addressing him as “my friend Uri”
11 November: Death of President of Palestine and
Chairman of PLO, Yasser Arafat, in a Paris hospital,
after a mysterious illness. Funeral in Ramallah on 12
November attended by small number of Israelis, includ-
ing delegation from Gush Shalom led by Uri Avnery
2005
9 January: New Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
elected with 62.3% of the vote, without Hamas partici-
pation, declares readiness for peace talks with Israel
2006
4 January: Israeli Prime Minister Sharon incapaci-
tated by massive stroke; Deputy Ehud Olmert