Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is an organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to consist of West Bank and Gaza and possibly parts or all of Israel proper.
See Palestinian state, Palestinian territories.
In the 1970s the PLO, was an umbrella group of 8 organizations headquartered in Damascus and Beirut, all devoted to what the United States and Israel call "terrorism". Its Palestine Liberation Army was 12,000 men strong, led by Yasser Arafat. The PLO included Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).
The PLO has a nominal legislative body of 300 members, the Palestine National Council (PNC). Actual political power and decisions are controlled by the PLO Executive Committee, made up of 15 people voted in by the PNC. PLO ideology can be found in its constitution, the Palestinian National Covenant, which was created in 1964. This covenant was amended in 1968; this version is made up of 33 articles. The original intention of the PLO was to establish a state of Palestine, which was called for in the Palestinian National Covenant.
The PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat has since become the generally accepted organization of the Palestinian people and its desire to have a nation of its own. The PLO has observer status in the United Nations. Yasser Arafat is married to a member of the Palestinian people's Christian community.
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2 Criticism against the PLO 3 Statements made by PLO 4 External links |
The PLO was founded on June 2, 1964. The first executive committee was formed on August 9,
with Ahmad Shuqeiri as its leader.
At the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo on February 3, 1969 Arafat was appointed PLO leader.
On January 12, 1976 the UN Security Council voted 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
In 1982, the PLO relocated to Tunis, Tunisia after it was driven out of Lebanon by Israel, during Israel's six-month invasion of southern Lebanon.
In 1988, the Palestine National Council adopted a resolution calling for the implementation of applicable United Nations resolutions, particularly, Resolutions 242 and 338. The Palestinians recognized Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, (constituting less than 20% of the former British mandate of Palestine) with the understanding that they would be allowed to set up their own state led by Yassir Arafat in the West Bank and Gaza. A significant minority within the PLO at this time still held the view that the rest of historic Palestine (about 75%, contained within the Kingdom of Jordan) would eventually also become a Palestinian state.
In 1993, the PLO secretly negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. The accords were signed on August 20, 1993. There was a subsequent public ceremony in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993 with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin. The Accords granted the Palestinians right to self-government on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Yasser Arafat was appointed head of the PA and the PLO came to dominate the administration. The headquarters of the PA (and thereby Yasser Arafat and the PLO) were established in Ramallah on the West Bank.
On September 9, 1993, Arafat released an English language press release stating that "the PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security". Some factions within the PLO and the PA, who used to seek peaceful coexistence with Israel while creating a Palestinian state within the West Bank and Gaza, have lost popular support due to the reoccupation of PA controlled areas in the West Bank.
In addition to Arafat, the PLO has many other well known leaders. One of them is the Palestinian Christian Hanan Ashrawi. She is a Professor of Literature at a West Bank university who has contributed to the understanding of English literature among the Palestinians and developed and compiled that people's own literature. By doing so, Palestinian identity and development has been furthered, consistent with the basic principles of the PLO.
The PNC has not undergone any changes since 1968, and still calls for the destruction of Israel in numerous articles. This version is still distributed by the PA and is taught in PA schools and colleges. This is in violation to the Oslo accords that demanded the PNC to be amended; the PLO on its behalf announced an intention to amend it, but never produced an updated version.
During the al-Aqsa Intifada, the PLO leadership has maintained connections with its military wing, the Fatah, parts of which (the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in particular) are held responsible for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. The Israeli government alleges that the PLO has harbored and sponsored Fatah terrorists. For these reasons, from the year 2000 to the present PLO and PA administrative buildings have in total sustained more than 900 Israeli attacks. This has seriously undermined the PA's ability to function properly. At present it is uncertain when a change to the better will be implemented.
On accepting Israel:
Timeline
Criticism against the PLO
Numerous leaders within the PLO and the PA, including Yasser Arafat himself, have declared that the State of Israel has a permanent right to exist, and that the peace treaty with Israel is genuine. Some Palestinian officials have stated that the peace treaty must be viewed as a permanent. The vast majority of the Israeli public has recognized the right of the Palestinian Arabs for a state of their own; however some leaders from the right (including the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) doubt whether a peaceful, coherent state can be founded by the PLO and call for significant re-organization, before any talk about independence.Statements made by PLO
The PLO has a wide diversity of opinions within it, some more peaceful than others. The opinions expressed by some PLO members do not necessarily reflect the organization as a whole.
On whether the PLO police force will work with Israel against terrorism:
On the right of return of Palestinian refugees:
On wanted fugitives taking refuge in Gaza:
On why the PLO signed the Cairo agreement with Israel:
On Palestinian statehood:
On the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad:External links
