Introduction
The subject of the Oslo accords and the future of the exiled Palestinians is discussed today with a deep sense of urgency among themselves as well as their kinfolk in Palestine. These discussions are, more often than not, accompanied by intense feelings of anxiety expressed in the recurrent terms of; bewilderment, loss, and misery.
Yet, they are equally shrouded in ample feelings of determination to pursue the objective of return to the homeland. This matter also engages the energies of the Arab nation and several Arab governments and their overall position toward the Palestine Question. Likewise, it occupies a prominent position in the plans of the Zionist–colonialist alliance to dissolve the Palestine Question.The subject is linked to the issue of the exiled Palestinians that began when this alliance expelled them from their homes in 1948. The essence of the issue is their aspiration to return to the liberated homeland. It is one aspect of the Palestine Question and is integrated with the issue of the Palestinians in that part of the homeland occupied in 1948, with those in the part of Palestine occupied in 1967, and with the issue of Jerusalem with its both parts that were occupied in 1948 and 1967. I studied these four aspects within the unified Palestine Question through the involvement of the United Nations with the events of the Arab-Zionist conflict.
The issue of the exiled Palestinians passed through different stages in accord with the unified Palestinian Question. Together with the Arab-Zionist conflict it entered a new phase after the earthquake that shook Eastern Europe and the Arab Gulf and ended the Cold War in the early 1990s. This was attended with a call to the Madrid Conference on 30th. September 1991 and commencement of the peace process to end the conflict. The United States of America, the chief architect and patron of the “Middle East Peace Process” convened it. This new phase in the issue of the exiled Palestinians reached its climax with the Declaration of Principles pertaining to the establishment of a Palestinian transitional autonomous government between the Zionist Israeli entity and the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) on 13/9/1993 in Washington in what was famously called the Oslo agreement. It was so named after the Norwegian capital, which hosted the secret negotiations. This agreement was completed with the signing of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement on 4/5/1994 followed by the Palestinian-Israeli Transitional Agreement concerning the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Washington 28/9/1995 also known as the Oslo II Agreement which includes in its core the two previous accords.
Surely, visualizing the future of the exiled Palestinians in the shade of the settlement accords requires from us, initially, to embrace the condition of the exiled Palestinians with a comprehensive vision according to the methodology of future studies which we discussed in our book (Tajid al Fikr wa Istijabat li Tahadiyat al Asr – The Renewal of Thought and Response to the Challenges of the Time). It also requires an exploration of the depths of that condition, analytically, and a study of what was entailed in the agreements of (the Middle East Peace Process) concerning the exiled Palestinians, and what was actually practiced on the ground to implement these agreements. At the same time, it is also necessary to recall the origins of this state of affairs and explain the historical movement that led the way to it; ending with a study of the future and knowledge of the plans of the parties in the conflict. Still besides, it demands the introduction of the factors of compassion and will to act, both of which affect greatly the making of the future after looking toward and envisioning it.
Embracing the condition of the exiled Palestinians with a comprehensive vision necessitates, initially, a definition of the term and identification of the people it refers to. Then, it is necessary to know where they are, their number, and distribution. Further, it is also important to know something about their conditions in their various dimensions. The term “Filistini al Kharij” is comprised of two words; the first emanates from Filistine – Palestine - the place and country to which every Palestinian is tied. The other word al Kharij – outside – relates to the one who lives outside Palestine after he was exiled from his country. There are those who use the word “dispersed” to connote al Kharij - the exiled - which signifies dispersal and scattering out of the homeland.
