Chronological Review of Events/November 1996 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

November 1995

Monitored from the media by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

2 November Two Palestinians blew themselves up near two Israeli buses in the Gaza Strip, killing themselves and slightly wounding 11 Israelis.  The Islamic Jihad movement claimed responsibility for the attack.  PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the attack and blamed Israel for escalating violence following the assassination of Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shakaki in Malta last week.  (The New York Times, AFP)

3 November A 15-year-old Palestinian boy from Jallazun refugee camp near Ramallah was shot dead by a Jewish settler.  The reason behind the killing was unknown. (AFP)

In a letter to the Palestinian daily An Nahar, four Israeli rabbis from Ofra, Kyriat Arba, and Tekoa settlements in the West Bank, urged the Palestinian people to "turn a new page in their relations" and share the lands and water with Israel.  (AFP)

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat criticized a U.S. decision to close the PLO's office in Washington saying it broke American commitments to the peace process.  (AFP)

4 November Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish man. The attack took place as Mr. Rabin was leaving a peace rally in Tel-Aviv which he addressed and which was attended by more than 100,000 people.  The killer was identified by Israeli police as Yigal Amir.  (The Washington Post)

Portuguese President Mario Soares visited the Gaza Strip and met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.  President Soares told Mr. Arafat that his country would send a team to join the EU observers for the Palestinian election. (AFP)

6 November Twenty-four head of states and 25 prime ministers were among representatives of 80 countries arrived in Jerusalem to pay their last respects to the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat was advised not to attend the funeral for political and security reasons, but was represented by two Palestinian officials.  (Financial Times)

7 November Israel resumed peace talks with the PLO and reassured Arabs that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination had not killed the Middle East peace process.  Israeli authorities also eased a closure imposed on Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip following the assassination.  (Reuter)

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks in Cairo on the Middle East peace process in the wake of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. (AFP)

The Foreign Minister of Japan Yohei Kono met with acting Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.  Mr. Kono reaffirmed Japan's commitment to the Middle East peace process, recalling its decision to send observers for Palestinian self-rule elections and help to build two new bridges over the Jordan river. (AFP)

9 November PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, who was advised not to attend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in Jerusalem for security reasons, paid a visit of condolence to Mrs. Rabin at her home in Tel Aviv.  Mr. Arafat was accompanied by Mr. Ahmad Korei, head of the economy department of the Palestinian Authority, and Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, a PLO Executive Committee member.  The Israeli Government welcomed Mr. Arafat's visit to Mr. Rabin's widow in Tel Aviv.  (The Washington Post)

A group of 66 European Union observers, led by former Swedish justice minister Karl Lidbom, arrived in the West Bank to supervise the Palestinian election.  Two other groups of EU observers are due to arrive before the election, one group of 134 on 2 January and 100 others on 15 January.  (AFP)

British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind visited the Gaza Strip and met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.  Mr. Rifkind announced seven million pounds ($10.5 million) in aid for Palestinian self-rule when he opened a new British Council center in Gaza City.  Earlier, Mr. Rifkind met with the acting Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres after he visited Syria where he held talks with the Syrian President Hafez al Assad and discussed the Middle East peace process.  (AFP)

12 November About 7,000 trained Palestinian teachers began the registration of Palestinian voters in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem.  The registration process was taken place under the supervision of 76 foreign observers, including 66 from the European Union and 10 from the United States.  Voter registration was scheduled to be completed by 25 November and the number of potential voters was expected to reach 1.2 million.  (The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor)

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat presided over a two-day meeting of the PLO Executive Committee and discussed the election of the Palestinian Council and the future of the peace process with Israel after the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  Fourteen members of the committee attended the meeting, the highest turnout since the PLO signed the Declaration of Principles in 1993.  (AFP)

13 November Israeli army completed the redeployment of its soldiers from the West Bank town of Jenin.  Around 1,000 Palestinian police took positions in the city which became the first of six West Bank towns under the control of the Palestinian Authority.  (Reuter)

15 November Palestinians celebrated the Palestinian "National Day" in the streets of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  Two Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern town of Nablus. (AFP)

16 November Acting Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres accepted President Ezer Weizman's formal request to form a new Israeli Government. Under the Israeli law, Mr. Peres will have 21 days to form a government that ought to have the support of at least 61 members of the 120-seat Parliament (Knesset).  (Reuter)

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat addressing the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, said that he was personally committed to peace "on a road without return."  During his visit to Paris Mr. Arafat met with the French President Jacques Chirac who pledged to establish an emergency transmitter to let Palestinian television be seen throughout the self-rule areas before the elections in January. (Reuter)

Israel handed over the Office of Censorship in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority. (AFP)

18 November Qatar opened a representative office in the Gaza Strip, becoming the first Gulf country to set up diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority.  During the opening ceremony the Qatari representative to the Palestinian Authority.  Mr. Abdallah Ahmad Limtauwa presented his credentials to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. (AFP)

19 November PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat visited the West Bank town of Jenin for the first time, and called on all Palestinian people to take part in the Palestinian Council elections.  Addressing thousands of Palestinians Mr. Arafat announced, "In the name of God, in the name of the Palestinian people, I declare Jenin liberated, liberated, liberated". (The New York Times)

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, announced that they would form a political party to participate in the forthcoming Palestinian Council elections.  The Palestinian Authority welcomed the announcement and described it as a significant step toward an agreement with Hamas, under which Hamas would suspend attacks against Israel and join the political process.  (The New York Times)

20 November U. S. President Bill Clinton backed plans for a bilingual series of the television children's programme "Sesame Street" to help remove barriers between Palestinian and Israeli children.  The project, estimate to cost $4.5 million, was put together by the U.S. Children's Television Workshop, Israeli Educational Television, and the Jerusalem Film Institute, a Palestinian organization.  The money was raised from private foundations, Palestinian and Arab donors as well as other U.S. organizations. (AFP)

21 November Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres formed a new government naming himself Defense Minister.  Mr. Peres promoted three other members from the Labor Party to new positions: Mr. Ehud Barak as a Foreign Minister; Mr. Haim Ramon as a Interior Minister, and Mr. Yossi Billin as a designated Minister in the Prime Minister Office.  He also appointed a moderate rabbi to rebuild bridges with settlers and religious Jews.  (The New York Times, The Financial Times)

22 November Salam International Investment Limited (SIIL), with capital of $250 million, was formed to boost the economy of the Palestinian self-rule areas.  SIIL would build a 275-room Marriot Hotel in the Gaza Strip as its first project. (AFP)

The Palestinian Authority signed an agreement with the European Union which provide for European aid of $65 million to help build schools, and $18 million for computers and equipment.  Some $13 million would be invested in local government services. The agreement was signed by Nabil Shaath and the head of the EU representative in East Jerusalem, Thomas Dupla. (AFP)

24 November PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat arrived in Bonn (Germany) where he was awarded with a German media prize for his commitment to peace.  During his visit, Mr. Arafat met with the German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and with the Minister for Economic and Cooperation Carl-Dieter Spranger and discussed German aid for building of an industrial park in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

27 November Representatives of fifteen European Union countries and 12 Mediterranean partners met in Barcelona for a three-day European-Mediterranean Economic Conference and discussed trade barriers in the regions.  The participants expressed hope for the set up of a free-trade zone, and pledged to make collective effort to establish an open market for the Mediterranean countries.  The conference also called on the EU to bring economic development to the region.  (Reuter)

28 November The Israeli Government proposed, for the first time, that an official of the Palestinian Authority be stationed at the Mediterranean port of Ashdod to boost the flow of goods in and out of the Palestinian territories. (AFP)

29 November Members of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) convened for the first time in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and discussed the election for the Palestinian Council.  All members stressed the importance of holding the elections and called on Israel to release all prisoners and to complete the deployment of its forces from the West Bank before the election day. (AFP)

30 November Israeli military court in Erez, the main crossing point to Gaza, sentenced two Palestinian brothers, Amin and Ayman Shaath from Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, to life imprisonment for their part in the murder of a Jewish settler in 1993.  (AFP)

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