Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; Arabic: السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية‎ as-Sulṭa al-Waṭanīya al-Filasṭīnīya) is the interim self-government body established to govern the Gaza Strip and Areas A and B of the West Bank, as a consequence of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Following elections in 2006 and the subsequent Gaza conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, its authority had extended only in areas A and B of the West Bank. Since January 2013, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority uses the name "State of Palestine" on official documents.

The Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, pursuant to the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the government of Israel, as a five-year interim body. Further negotiations were then meant to take place between the two parties regarding its final status. According to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was designated to have exclusive control over both security-related and civilian issues in Palestinian urban areas (referred to as "Area A") and only civilian control over Palestinian rural areas ("Area B"). The remainder of the territories, including Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley region and bypass roads between Palestinian communities, were to remain under Israeli control ("Area C"). East Jerusalem was excluded from the Accords. Negotiations with several Israeli governments had resulted in the Authority gaining further control of some areas, but control was then lost in some areas when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) retook several strategic positions during the Second ("Al-Aqsa") Intifada. In 2005, after the Second Intifada, Israel withdrew unilaterally from its settlements in the Gaza Strip, thereby expanding Palestinian Authority control to the entire strip.

The Palestinian

The Palestinian is a 66 minute TV documentary from 1977. It was produced by and starred Vanessa Redgrave.

Bombing and Oscar row

The film was to be shown at The Doheny Plaza theatre, Los Angeles. The morning before a showing, on June 15, 1978 at 4.26 a.m., a bomb exploded in front of the theatre.

That same year, Vanessa Redgrave was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscar ceremony for her role in Julia. She won the Oscar, and in her acceptance speech she made sharp comments on "Zionist hoodlums".

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