Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. It's thirty years since the Oslo Accords were signed. This agreement in 1993 aimed to bring about peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. So this week, we're bringing you stories from Israeli and Palestinian history. We hear about attempts at peace - the secret talks behind the Oslo Accords, and President Bill Clinton's failed attempt to end the conflict at Camp David. Plus, one of the most dramatic sieges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that took place in a church.
We also hear from a Palestinian and an Israeli who were there when rioting broke out in 2000, after the Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, made a visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. And finally a hope of peace with the orchestra, made up of young people from both sides of the conflict, which performed a concert in the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
Contributors: Mona Juul – Norwegian diplomat who was part of the team that planned and orchestrated the meetings which resulted in the signing of the Oslo Accords. Yolande Knell - Middle East Correspondent for BBC News. Gamal Helal - American diplomatic interpreter and policy adviser. Khaled Zeghari - Palestinian cameraman. Zalman Shoval - former Israeli ambassador to Washington. Carolyn Cole - photojournalist. Father Amjad Sabbara - Franciscan friar. Tyme Khelefi - former violinist with the West-Eastern Divan orchestra. Daniel Cohen - former violinist with the West-Eastern Divan orchestra.
(Photo: Israeli soldiers run towards the Church of the Nativity. Credit: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP via Getty Images)