The Oslo Accords and Palestinian Civil Society

This chapter discusses the role of civil society in helping Palestinians challenge Israeli occupation. Palestinian organizations have developed despite the absence of the state, independence, sovereignty, and citizenship. Organizational capacity and activism are an efficient tool and building block for unity and power here as elsewhere, which in turn will help Palestinians challenge their circumstances. The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) has been active in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1987. Its goal is to help build the organizational and collective muscles of Palestinians to challenge occupation, oppression, and internal division. It is against this background that the NPA works in partnership with local Palestinian organizations. It is on this basis that they believe it is important to work with local forces rather than simply provide services. And it is from this perspective that they have watched the development of Palestinian civil society and the tensions, changes, and challenges that followed the Oslo Accords.