The PLO struck a political bargain with the Israeli
government: In return for recognition and permission to
return to the occupied territories, the Palestinians would
police the local population and refrain from insisting that
Israel cease its settlement activities.
–Raja Shehadeh
The great irony of the Oslo accord is that it brought to
power in Palestine an outside political elite that did not
lead the revolution–the 1987-1993 intifada–but rather
promised to end it.
–Glenn E. Robinson
