Chronological Review of Events/November 1993 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

November 1993

Monitored from the press by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

1 November Representatives of the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) resumed their negotiations on the implementation of the Israeli-PLO accord in the seaside resort of Taba.  (Ha'aretz)

Fifty Israeli reserve officers in the Israeli army and a group of academics called on Israeli soldiers to refuse obeying orders of evacuating Jewish settlements in case this would be decided as a result of the peace negotiations.  (Ha'aretz)

2 November Tens of Jewish settlers blocked the main road between Khan Younis and Gaza protesting the Israeli-PLO accord.  Two molotov bombs were thrown at Israeli troops in Khan Younis.  Israeli settlers continued their assaults on the Palestinian residents of the West Bank for the third day in a row.  (The Jerusalem Press)

The Palestine Liberation Organization indefinitely suspended talks with Israel saying Israel did not intend to withdraw from the occupied territories.  (The Financial Times)

3 November Jerusalem's mayor-elect Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying that "Every Jew can acquire property anywhere in Jerusalem, anywhere in the land of Israel."  His statement was an answer to the question of whether Jews would go on settling in Arab East Jerusalem.  (The Guardian)

4 November Mr. Amr Musa, Egyptian Foreign Minister, arrived in Israel to discuss the resumption of the Israeli-PLO talks.  (Ha'aretz)

According to The Washington Post, Israel has opened secret, backchannel talks with Jordan and Syria in what could signal "possible progress in the Middle East peace process".

A young Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the Bethlehem area. Three young Palestinians from Tallouzah and Hebron were shot and injured by Israeli troops and Jewish settlers.  (The Jerusalem Press)

5 November Three young Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip.  (The Jerusalem Press)

Mr. Arafat, the Chairman of the PLO, announced the establishment of the Palestine Council for Construction and Economic Development under his leadership.  (The Jerusalem Press)

6 November Mrs. Hanan Ashrawi, the spokesperson of the Palestinian peace negotiating team, has agreed to head the Palestine Liberation Organization's new mission in Washington.  (The Washington Post)

Mr. Manuel Marin, EC Commissioner for development policy, said that the EC was working on a "tailor-made" association agreement with Israel.  He also said that the EC would begin to work out a "new vision" for a joint policy in the Middle East.  (The Financial Times)

The Coordinating Committee of the Conference to Support Middle East  concluded its meeting for coordinating the efforts of the donor countries to assist the Palestinian people.  (The Jerusalem Press)

7 November Mr. Yasser Arafat, the PLO Chairman, met in Cairo with Mr. Robert Pelletreau, the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, who presented the Chairman with a message from the USA Administration.  (The Jerusalem Press)

Palestinian gunmen riddled a right-wing Israeli rabbi's car with bullets near Hebron, wounding him and killing his driver.  Jewish settlers then went on a violent rampage and three Palestinians were  reported  wounded.  (The Washington Post)

The daily Maariv reported that a group of Jewish settlers associated with Kiryat Arba settlement threatened to "continue the operations aimed at eliminating large numbers of Palestinians".

8 November Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed talks at a secret location in Cairo on self-rule in Gaza and Jericho.  (The New York Times)

The 4th multilateral working group on economic cooperation in the Middle East met in Copenhagen to discuss 16 projects for the region.  Two hundred delegates   representing   42  countries  participated  in  the  meeting.  (Al-Ittihad)

Arab traffic was paralyzed during the morning rush hour as hundreds of Jewish settlers blocked highways throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with rocks and burning tires for a second consecutive day.  Settlers near Taquah in the West Bank shot and injured a Palestinian man and his son.  A Palestinian man was shot and seriously wounded in the Gaza Strip and at least 20 other Palestinians were hurt when stone-throwing settlers smashed car windows and assaulted motorists.  (The New York Times)

9 November A Palestinian delegation headed by Feisal Husseini met with the Spanish Monarch, Juan Carlos, at the Spanish Consulate in East Jerusalem.  (TheJerusalem Press)

Israeli army fired anti-tank rockets at a Palestinian house in Awa village near Hebron, destroying the house and killing a Palestinian gunman hiding inside. Another gunman surrendered.  (The Guardian)

Israeli security sources denied reports, by Jewish settlers, that armed Fatah activists are continuing their activities against Israeli  targets.  (Yediot Ahronot)

10 November Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, began his third visit this year to the USA "amid rising hope of a further breakthrough on a Middle East peace settlement.  (The Guardian)

The European Economic Coordinating Committee on the Middle East decided to contribute $10 million to sponsor feasibility studies of transportation projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.  (Jerusalem Press)

Dozens of Jewish settlers continued their assault on residents of the Gaza Strip.  (Davar)

11 November According to the daily Maariv, a seven-man Jordanian economic delegation was holding talks in Jerusalem with Israeli officials and businessmen to "iron out details of a secret Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement which focuses on economic cooperation".

According to The Financial Times, a World Bank official said that the PLO had to move swiftly to appoint professional personnel for the recently announced Economic Council for Construction and Economic Development.

An Israeli soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian youth at Erez junction in Gaza City. Three armed Palestinians opened fire at the military headquarters in Gaza.  Israeli troops shot and injured three Palestinians in Khan Younis and Maghazi refugee camp.  (The Jerusalem Press)

12 November An Israeli army's spokesman announced that five arrested Palestinians, suspected of killing a Jewish settler two weeks ago, had identified themselves as members of the Fatah movement.  President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called on the PLO Chairman, Yasser Arafat, to condemn the killing.  (The New York Times)

13 November Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, responding to American and Israeli demands, condemned the recent killing of an Israeli settler by members of his movement, Fatah.  (The New York Times)

14 November Jewish settlers shot and killed a young Palestinian in Hebron after he stabbed and injured a settler near the Ibrahimi Mosque.  A "suspected collaborator"  was  shot  and injured by armed Palestinians in Gaza City.  (The Jerusalem Press)

15 November Israeli and Palestinian economists began talks in Paris to determine economic relations between Israel and the new Palestinian self-governing authority which will take over administration of the Gaza Strip and Jericho.  (The Financial Times)

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed in Cairo a sixth round of talks on details of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho.  (The New York Times)

16 November A young Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers during a raid of a high school in El-Bireh; two other students were injured.  In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian stabbed two Israelis before being shot dead by an Israeli bystander.  In the West Bank town of Hebron, Jewish settlers overturned market stalls, smashed cars and broke car windshields.  (The Guardian)

Israeli troops demolished seven houses in Gaza City, allegedly for construction on state land without permits.  (Jerusalem Press)

17 November A young Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier to death at the main Gaza entry conjunction.  The army said that the attacker was captured.  (The New York Times)

Jewish settlers were warned by the army that it would act "firmly and aggressively" to stop the disturbances in the occupied territories.  (The New York Times)

Mr. Ahmed Qurie, the PLO economics chief, said that the financial crisis in the PLO could jeopardize the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. (The Financial Times)

18 November Israeli archaeologists said they had discovered manuscript fragments and other second-century artifacts in cliffs overlooking the city of Jericho.  Palestinian archaeologists and political figures have accused the Israelis of last-minute plundering the area which is to fall under Palestinian control soon.  (The New York Times)

Six Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. (The Jerusalem Press)

19 November A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli troops in Rafah refugee camp. Five students were shot and injured by troops in Gaza City. (The Jerusalem Press)

According to the daily Maariv, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has ordered the increase of military presence and the imposition of new restrictions on the movement of Palestinian youths from the occupied territories into Israel.

21 November Mr. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's Prime Minister, returning from a 10-day visit to North America, said that he had won U.S. economic and defence assurances which "would bolster the Middle East peace process".  (The Financial Times)

Five Palestinians were shot and injured during clashes with Israeli troops in Gaza City.  A "suspected collaborator" was shot and killed by armed youth in Gaza City.  Two molotov bombs were thrown at the Israeli police headquarters in Gaza.  (Jerusalem Press)

22 November A Palestinian man driving a garbage truck struck an Israeli car in Shujaiyeh and then, was shot and injured by Israeli troops.  (The Jerusalem Press)

23 November The Christian Science Monitor reported a growing Palestinian discontent over Chairman Arafat's "tight grip".  It reported that the PLO faces criticism for poor organization and powerful domination by the Fatah movement.

Two leading lawyers of the West Bank's Mandela Institute for Palestinian Prisoners reported significant deterioration of Palestinian prisoners' health in the occupied territories.  (The Jerusalem Press)

24 November A former Israeli intelligence official has confirmed publicly that Israel carried out a methodical campaign to assassinate leaders of the Black September group of the PLO following the 1972 killing of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.  (The Washington Post)

King Hussein of Jordan opened the first session of Jordan's newly elected parliament by reaffirming his commitment to the Middle East peace process. (The Financial Times)

Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian in Khan Younis when, according to Israeli sources, he tried to run a roadblock.  (The New York Times)

26 November Israeli troops shot and killed Khaled Zer, a leading Hamas activist near Surbaher, outside Jerusalem.  (The Financial Times)

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin warned that Israel may be unable to meet a deadline of December 13 for the start of its troop withdrawal and the assumption of Palestinian Authority  in the Gaza  Strip  and  Jericho.  (The New York Times)

Israeli troops shot and wounded 37 Palestinians in street protests in Gaza set off by the killing of a Hamas commander by Israeli troops.  (The New York Times)

28 November An Israeli undercover security unit shot and killed Ahmad Abu Alrish, a senior member of the Fatah Hawks at his house in Khan Younis.  Abu Alrish had been pardoned by the Israeli authorities after turning himself in.  His killing triggered mass demonstrations in the Gaza Strip.  (The Jerusalem Press)

29 November A young Palestinian was shot and killed by undercover soldiers in Khan Younis, and 10 other Palestinians were shot and injured in the Gaza Strip. (Maariv)

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was observed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and at the United Nations offices in Geneva and Vienna, as well as other localities around the world.

30 November The three major hospitals in Gaza reported that 80 Palestinians were injured, five seriously, by Israeli army gunfire in a series of riots and confrontation in the Gaza Strip.  (The Washington Post)

According to the daily Maariv, the Council of Jewish Settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has established a new organization named Hashomir (the Guardian) to protect Jewish settlements.

*    *    *