The Oslo Accords were purportedly for an interim period of five years that was supposed to conclude with negotiations over all the major issues, including the status of Jerusalem. In advance of those negotiations, Israel had every motivation to weaken the Palestinians’ claims to the city—to diminish their presence, increase Jewish settlement, and make East Jerusalem’s absorption into Israel an irrefutable fact. Building permits for Palestinians were withheld, homes were demolished, green ID holders were evicted, more checkpoints sprung up overnight, and entrance permits to the city became
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