Character Relationship Map: Oslo

Characters

• Mona Juul (played by Ruth Wilson) — protagonist

  Norwegian diplomat who secretly facilitates early Israeli-Palestinian talks. She introduces Palestinian representatives to Israeli counterparts, breaks protocol to inform her foreign minister, and per...

• Terje Rød-Larsen (played by Andrew Scott) — protagonist

  Norwegian diplomat and Mona Juul's husband who proposes the secret neutral-ground meeting strategy in Jerusalem. He pushes for Israeli official involvement and helps coordinate the diplomatic backchan...

• Ahmed Qurei (played by Salim Daw) — supporting

  PLO Minister of Finance and Palestinian representative. He participates in the secret London and Oslo meetings, initially confronts Israeli negotiators aggressively but eventually warms to negotiation...

• Hassan Asfour (played by Waleed Zuaiter) — supporting

  Palestinian government representative attending the follow-up Oslo manor meeting alongside Ahmed Qurei. He engages in the initial formal discussions that gradually transition into drafting the Declara...

• Shimon Peres (played by Sasson Gabai) — supporting
• Uri Savir (played by Jeff Wilbusch) — supporting

  Israeli foreign ministry official who joins the secret talks after protocol is bypassed. Despite an initially hostile meeting with Palestinian counterparts, he later expresses willingness to grant Pal...

• Joel Singer (played by Igal Naor) — supporting

  Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs legal adviser. He reviews the draft agreement but attempts to heavily rewrite it, nearly collapsing the negotiations before Mona Juul steps in to resolve the impass...

• Johan Jørgen Holst (played by Karel Dobrý) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Uri Savir → Joel Singer (Professional Government Colleagues) — They represent different official functions in the Israeli review process.

  Uri Savir presents the negotiation result to Joel Singer, the legal adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for official review.

• Terje Rød-Larsen → Uri Savir (Professional Official Liaison) — Terje's effort helps move the process from unofficial contacts toward official participation.

  Terje pushes for an Israeli official to join the talks, while Uri Savir later enters as the Israeli foreign ministry representative.

• Mona Juul → Johan Jørgen Holst (Power Diplomatic Subordinate) — Mona brings the negotiations into the authority of the Norwegian foreign ministry.

  Mona breaks the secrecy of the talks and informs Johan Jørgen Holst, the Norwegian foreign minister, who then facilitates a meeting with an Israeli fo...

• Mona Juul → Hassan Asfour (Professional Facilitator And Delegate) — Their connection is based on Mona's facilitation of the Palestinian delegation.

  Hassan Asfour attends the Oslo manor meeting as a Palestinian representative while Mona facilitates the discussions.

• Mona Juul → Ahmed Qurei (Professional Facilitator And Negotiator) — Mona facilitates Qurei's participation in the secret talks.

  Mona meets Ahmed Qurei in London and introduces him to an Israeli counterpart. She later helps keep the negotiations alive when the drafting process n...

• Mona Juul → Terje Rød-Larsen (Romantic Spouses) — Their marriage is also a partnership in the peace initiative.

  The plot identifies Terje Rød-Larsen as Mona Juul's husband. They coordinate the diplomatic backchannel together throughout the negotiations.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Ahmed Qurei → Shimon Peres (Alliance Final Conference Counterparts) — Their final exchange helps secure acceptance of the agreement.

  During the final telephone conference, Qurei speaks on behalf of the Palestinian leadership while Shimon Peres represents the Israeli side; the confer...

• Ahmed Qurei → Joel Singer (Conflict Document Negotiators) — Qurei's negotiating position is challenged by Singer's legal revisions.

  Singer meets the group to finalize the draft, but his attempts to rewrite it create a crisis that threatens the talks in which Qurei is participating.

• Ahmed Qurei → Uri Savir (Conflict Adversarial Negotiators) — They embody the central Israeli-Palestinian confrontation while negotiating a possible agreement.

  The meeting between Savir and Qurei begins with mutual accusations of terrorism and murder before developing into substantive discussion.

• Ahmed Qurei → Hassan Asfour (Alliance Delegation Colleagues) — They work within the same Palestinian negotiating delegation.

  Ahmed Qurei and Hassan Asfour attend the Oslo manor meeting together as representatives of the Palestinian government.

• Terje Rød-Larsen → Ahmed Qurei (Alliance Backchannel Partners) — Terje's diplomatic strategy creates the channel in which Qurei negotiates.

  Terje proposes an Israeli-Palestinian meeting on neutral ground, and Ahmed Qurei becomes the Palestinian representative in the resulting London and Os...

• Mona Juul → Joel Singer (Conflict Negotiating Opponents) — Mona's intervention counters Singer's disruptive approach to the document.

  When Joel Singer attempts to rewrite the draft document and nearly breaks up the talks, Mona abandons her 'facilitate only' doctrine and intervenes to...

Story Analysis

Secret diplomacy transforms entrenched hostility into a fragile agreement while leaving the conflict's deepest questions unresolved.

Plot Progression

1. A Channel Through Silence — Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen search for a way around the deadlocked official peace process. Their neutral-ground idea leads to a secret London meeting between Palestinian and Israeli representatives...
2. Trust Behind Closed Doors — The participants continue their contacts at a manor near Oslo. Formal hostility gradually gives way to social interaction and the first drafts of a Declaration of Principles.
3. The Price of Official Contact — The unofficial status of the Israeli participants threatens to end the process. Mona breaks secrecy and Holst helps bring an Israeli foreign ministry official into the talks.
4. Words That Almost Break Peace — Savir and Qurei confront the violence behind the conflict before discussing Palestinian autonomy. Singer's legal revisions then push the document toward collapse until Mona intervenes.
5. Recognition Without Resolution — A difficult telephone conference finally produces mutual recognition and postpones the question of Jerusalem. The closing montage presents both the agreement's promise and its painful aftermath.