terrorist headquarters, it gradually came to be internationally recognized as the "sole legitimate representative" of the
Palestinian people.
56. At the end of 1987, when the Palestinians realized that these actions were not putting an end to the settlement momentum, which was gradually pulling the land out from under their feet, they launched the intifada: a spontaneous grassroots uprising of all sectors of the population. In this ("first") intifada, 1,500 Palestinians were killed, among them hundreds of children; these casualties amounted to several times the number of Israeli losses, but the intifada put the "Palestinian problem" back on the Israeli and international agenda.
57. The October 1973 war, which commenced with the surprise initial successes of the Egyptian and Syrian forces and ended with their defeat, convinced Yassir Arafat and his close associates that the realization of Palestinian national aspirations by military means was impossible. He decided to create a political option that would lead to an agreement with Israel and enable the Palestinians, through negotiations, to establish an independent state in at least a part of the country.
The urge to implant new settlements was particular to no
specific ideological camp and extended to the entire Zionist Movement. It was an intense effort of all parts of the government.
58. To prepare the ground for this, Arafat initiated contact with Israeli personalities who could influence public opinion and government policy. His emissaries (Said Hamami and Issam
Sartawi) met with Israeli peace pioneers, who at the end of 1975 established the "Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace."
59. These contacts, which gradually became more extensive, as well as the growing Israeli fatigue with the intifada, the official Jordanian disengagement from the West Bank, the changing
international situation (the collapse of the Communist Bloc, the Gulf War) led to the Madrid Conference and, later, to the Oslo Agreement.
60. The Oslo Agreement had positive and negative features.
61. On the positive side, the agreement brought Israel to its first official recognition of the Palestinian people and its national