The Oslo Diaries

This is the story of the Oslo peace accords, from the period when it was illegal for Israelis to talk with terrorists (the PLO), to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the subsequent election win of Benjamin Netanyahu. The film is based on the diaries of the participants, interviews, historic footage, and recreations (with Kiev standing in for Oslo).

This is a fascinating film for those who want to see a high-stakes game of peace being played out, with the political backdrop of opposition anti-peace groups. Someday someone may make a similar film about the current Korean peace talks.

The Oslo Diaries is very much like every documentary that deals with the Israel-Palestinian conflict. It doesn't necessarily demonize Israel, but it shows very little about the corruption and lies of the Palestinian leadership. Was there a good faith effort for peace in the 90's? I guess so. But to show alwaysvtge perspective of the Palestinians as victims and not focus on the terrorism perpetrated by their leaders is irresponsible. It shows news about a killing that an Orthodox Jewish settler perpetrated in Hebron against people In prayer. Horrible of course, and it shows Shimon Peres disgust ar this act rightly so. But the film never focuses on the constant fear and violence that Israelis have to live with.

If you are going to show one side's problems? Show both. And also, the film basically blames the fall of the peace process on Benjamin Netanyahu. Not a mention of Mahmoud Abbas. Not a mention of the violence done by Hamas. It does rightfully end with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a an orthodox group against the peace process. There are certainly people on both sides that are against peace. But this documentary decided to show only one side of that.

Not as objective as it wants the viewer to believe.

This film is very much directed at anyone who disagrees with Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The Oslo Diaries" (2018 release from Canada and Israel; 97 min. ) is a documentary about the Oslo Accords from the 1990s, as told through the eyes of those who had a front row set during the negotiations between the Israelis and Palestines. As the movie opens, Ron Pundak's diary from these times is read. Pundak was an Israeli professor who risked his life and in 1992 opened a back channel to the PLO for secret negotiations. In January, 1993, negotiations start for real between 2 Israelis and 3 Palestines, among them Abu Ala, whose diaries are also used extensively for this film. At this point we qre less than 15 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this movie delivers an eye-opening account how incredibly difficult and complicated these prolonged discussions were, but also how the negotiators started to trust each other as the weeks, month and years passed by. The film makers also interviewed the participants extensively, including Simon Peres in what turned out to be his last interview before he passed away in 2016. When you watch all of this unfold, it is at times difficult to assess the intrinsic quality of the movie vs. the historical significance of these events. As to the documentary itself, I found it to be very well done, in particular since we all know beforehand what the ultimate outcome would be. As to the historical significance, 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Rabin (and with it the end of the Oslo Accords), allowing a cynical Netanyahu to become PM. And what has he done in those 25 years to achieve peace? Absolutely nothing, on the contrary. As one of the participants of the Oslo Accords laments: "These were the years of hope."

"The Oslo Diaries" premiered at the 2018 Sundance film festival to good acclaim and later that years started airing on HBO. I recently caught it on HBO On Demand, and am astounded by the fact that it's now been 25 years since all of this took place. If you have any interest in the israeli-Palestine conflict, I'd readily suggest you check this out on VOD, and draw your own conclusion.

It's 1992. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at a boiling point. The act of talking to the PLO would be treason for any Israeli citizen. Two Israeli professors have been chosen by government leaders to have back-channel talks with three Palestinian representatives in Norway. If found out, the professors would be arrested and the government would deny all knowledge. It's the start of a peace process which would face many hurdles.

This is history. It is important history. It's worth going over again. I'm familiar with less than half of the events. It's interesting to see the rest of the story and it has some interesting bits of behind-the-scenes. The conceit is that these are personal diaries of the participants. There are certainly some internal thoughts being expressed. I don't know if anything is being held back or if it has the full depth of opinions. It's compelling history and as a movie, it is compelling drama.

While the documentary gives much needed weight to the need for reignited communications & honest negotiation with the Israeli & Arab conflict in the West Bank & Gaza, it subliminally and unfairly condemns the current Israeli leadership as the sole responsible party for the current condition of these relations.

The duplicitous Arafat was no icon of peace, & was responsible for accelerating this bloody & horrific era in Mideastern history - he was no romantic figure!

Never loose sight of the fact that if the Israelis put down their arms, they would be annihilated, if the Arabs put down their arms, there would be peace...