The signing of the Oslo Accords in Washington, DC, Sept. 13, 1993. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In a world hungry for peace, symbols matter. But when symbols are corrupted, they become dangerous.

This is exactly what happened in 1994, when Yasser Arafat — the longtime leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and a man with a legacy drenched in blood — was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.

For Israel, that moment was not one of triumph — but of betrayal.

Israel’s Costly Gamble for Peace

Israel, a democratic nation surrounded by hostility, has long sought genuine peace with its neighbors. The signing of the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s was a bold gesture — an olive branch extended even to those with a history of violence against its people. By recognizing the PLO and engaging Arafat in negotiations, Israel hoped to turn decades of conflict into a future of coexistence.

But instead of peace, Israel received more terror, broken promises, and rivers of blood.

The Oslo process, while well-intentioned, became one of the gravest strategic missteps in Israel’s history. It gave a platform — not to a peacemaker — but to a man who mastered the art of deception, cloaking terrorism in diplomatic language while continuing to incite hatred and violence.

A Bloodstained Record in a Suit

Yasser Arafat was no reformer. He was the architect of modern Palestinian terrorism. As the founder of Fatah and the head of the PLO, he oversaw decades of attacks that targeted innocent civilians — Jewish and non-Jewish alike.

Among the countless atrocities carried out under his leadership, here are some of the worst:

• 1972 Munich Olympics: Israeli athletes slaughtered by Black September, a group tied to Arafat.
• 1974 Ma’alot massacre: 25 Israelis, mostly children, killed in a school hostage crisis.
• 1978 Coastal Road Massacre: 35 civilians murdered in a bus hijacking — the deadliest terror attack in Israeli history until Oct. 7, 2023.
• 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking: An elderly American Jew, Leon Klinghoffer, was shot and thrown overboard in his wheelchair.

These weren’t acts of war. They were deliberate massacres, aimed at innocent lives, executed with a singular goal: the destruction of Israel.

Two Tongues, One Goal

Arafat played a dangerous double game. To Western media, he spoke of peace. But in Arabic, to his own people, he promised victory through violence.

This tactic is not accidental — it echoes the Islamic concept of Taqiya, which allows for concealment of intent under threat. While originally a doctrine for self-preservation, extremists have twisted it into a political weapon. Arafat exploited it masterfully, saying what the West wanted to hear while continuing to incite terrorism from the shadows.

The Nobel’s Dangerous Precedent

Awarding Arafat the Nobel Peace Prize was not just a mistake — it was a global endorsement of duplicity. It told the world that violence can be rewarded if dressed in the right rhetoric. It blurred the moral line between victim and aggressor.

If that precedent holds, how long until we see leaders from Hamas wearing suits, declaring a ceasefire, and receiving applause from the same global institutions that once legitimized Arafat?

October 7th: A Grim Reminder

Israel doesn’t have the luxury of forgetting. The barbaric attacks of October 7th—when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, slaughtered families, raped women, and kidnapped children — proved once again that the hatred fueling these groups is not a relic of the past. It is alive, unrepentant, and as vicious as ever.

And yet, the international community stands poised to repeat history. If Hamas rebrands itself, mouths the word “peace,” and walks onto a world stage, will it too be handed a Nobel Prize?

Will the victims of Kibbutz Be’eri and Re’im be forgotten, just as the victims of Munich and Ma’alot were?

A Legacy of Lies: From Arafat to Abbas

Today, the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas — Arafat’s political heir — rules the West Bank. It wears the clothes of diplomacy, but little else has changed. Elections are suppressed, incitement continues in schools and the media, and the glorification of terrorists remains a fixture of its institutions.

This is not a peace partner. It is the continuation of the same ideology that Arafat championed.

Never Again: The Moral Clarity Israel Must Defend

Peace must be built on truth, justice, and mutual recognition — not deception. When terrorists are rewarded, when murderers are handed medals, and when the world ignores the suffering of Israeli victims, it sends a message: Israeli lives are negotiable.

We must never accept that.

The Nobel Peace Prize should stand for reconciliation — not for legitimizing those who dream of annihilation.

Let this be a call to moral clarity: Do not forget who Yasser Arafat was. Do not forget what Hamas is. And do not allow history to repeat itself with applause.

Am Yisrael Chai. The Nation of Israel lives — and it will never bow to those who seek its destruction.

Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.