Changes: Palestine Liberation Organization

Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization; منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية ; Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah
	File:Plo emblem.png
Leader	Mahmoud Abbas
Founded	28 May 1964
Headquarters	Ramallah,
Ideology	Palestinian nationalism, socialism
	Political parties; Elections

Revision as of 15:35, 23 July 2019

"P.L.O." and "PLO" redirect here. For Pot Limit Omaha, a variant of Poker, see Omaha hold 'em#Pot-limit Omaha.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic language: منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية‎; Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah (help·info)) is an organization created in 1964 with the purpose of creating an independent State of Palestine. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations,^[4]^[5] and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.^[6]^[7]^[8] The PLO was considered by the United States and Israel to be a terrorist organization until the Madrid Conference in 1991. In 1993, PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace, accepted UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and rejected "violence and terrorism"; in response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.^[9]

Founding

Conceived by the Arab states at the first Arab summit meeting, the 1964 Arab League summit (Cairo), its stated goal was the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle. The organization was called Palestinian Liberation Organization.^[10] The original PLO Charter (issued on 28 May 1964^[11]) stated that "Palestine with its boundaries that existed at the time of the British mandate is an integral regional unit" and sought to "prohibit... the existence and activity" of Zionism.^[10] It also called for a right of return and self-determination for Palestinians. Palestinian statehood was not mentioned, although in 1974 the PLO called for an independent state in the territory of Mandate Palestine.^[12] The group used multi-layered guerrilla tactics to attack Israel from their bases in Jordan (including the West Bank), Lebanon, Egypt (Gaza Strip), and Syria.^[13]

Politics

See also: Politics of the Palestinian National Authority and Politics of the State of Palestine

Organization

The PLO has a nominal legislative body, the Palestinian National Council (PNC), but most actual political power and decisions are controlled by the PLO Executive Committee, made up of 18 people elected by the PNC. The PLO incorporates a range of generally secular ideologies of different Palestinian movements committed to the struggle for Palestinian independence and liberation, hence the name of the organization. The Palestine Liberation Organization is considered by the Arab League^[4]^[14] and by the United Nations^[15] to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and holds a permanent observer seat in the United Nations General Assembly. It has been widely criticized, however, over the lack of Hamas presence in the Organization, even after Hamas won almost two-thirds of the seats in the 2006 legislative council elections.^{[citation needed]}

Yasser Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen).

Initially, as an armed guerrilla organization, the PLO was responsible for violent actions performed against Israel in the 1970s and early 1980s, regarded as terroristic activities by Israel and regarded as a war of liberation by the PLO. In 1988, however, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the right of return to land occupied by Palestinians prior to 1948, as well as the right to continue armed struggle until the end of "The Zionist Entity."^[16] In 1996, the PLO nullified the articles of the PLO's Charter, or parts of it, which called for the destruction of Israel and for armed resistance.^[17]

Other institutions are the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) which consists of 124 members from the PLO Executive Committee, PNC, PLC and other Palestinian organizations.^[18] The PCC makes policy decisions when PNC is not in session, acting as a link between the PNC and the PLO-EC. The PCC is elected by the PNC and chaired by the PNC speaker.^[19]

Membership

The PLO has no central decision-making or mechanism that enables it to directly control its factions, but they are supposed to follow the PLO charter and Executive Committee decisions. Membership has fluctuated, and some organizations have left the PLO or suspended membership during times of political turbulence, but most often these groups eventually rejoined the organization. Not all PLO activists are members of one of the factions – for example, many PNC delegates are elected as independents.^{[citation needed]}

Present members include:

Fatah – Largest faction, Left-wing Nationalism, Palestinian nationalist.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – Second largest, radically far-left militant and communist
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) – Third largest, communist
The Palestinian People's Party (PPP) – Ex-communist, Social Democratic, non-militant
The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF, Abu Abbas faction) – Minor left-wing faction
The Arab Liberation Front (ALF) – Minor faction, aligned to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party
As-Sa'iqa – Syrian-controlled Ba'athist faction
The Palestine Democratic Union (Fida) – Minor democratic socialist, 2 state solution, non militant faction
The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF, Samir Ghawsha faction) – minor socialist faction
The Palestinian Arab Front (PAF) – minor pro-Fatah, former Iraqi Ba'athists faction

Former member groups of the PLO include:

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC)^[20]

History

Creation

The Arab League in Cairo Summit 1964 initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people.^[21]

The Palestinian National Council convened in Jerusalem on 28 May 1964. Concluding this meeting the PLO was founded on 2 June 1964. Its Statement of Proclamation of the Organization^[22] declared "... the right of the Palestinian Arab people to its sacred homeland Palestine and affirming the inevitability of the battle to liberate the usurped part from it, and its determination to bring out its effective revolutionary entity and the mobilization of the capabilities and potentialities and its material, military and spiritual forces".

Due to the influence of the Egyptian President Nasser, the PLO supported 'Pan-Arabism', as advocated by him – this was the ideology that the Arabs should live in one state. The first executive committee was formed on 9 August, with Ahmad Shuqeiri as its leader.^{[citation needed]}

In spite of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the Arab states remained unreconciled to Israel's creation as they had been to the proposed partition of Palestine in 1948. Therefore, the Palestinian National Charter of 1964^[23] stated: "The claims of historic and spiritual ties between Jews and Palestine are not in agreement with the facts of history or with the true basis of sound statehood... [T]he Jews are not one people with an independent personality because they are citizens to their states." (Article 18).

Although Egypt and Jordan supported the creation of a Palestinian state on land that they recognised as being occupied by Israel, they would not grant sovereignty to the Palestinian people in lands under Jordanian and Egyptian military occupation, amounting to 53% of the territory allocated to Arabs under the UN Partition Plan. Hence, Article 24: "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank, the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area."

Executive Committee Chairmen

Ahmad Shukeiri (10 June 1964 – 24 December 1967)
Yahya Hammuda (24 December 1967 – 2 February 1969)
Yasser Arafat "Abu Amar" (4 February 1969 – 11 November 2004)

(in exile in Jordan to April 1971; Lebanon 1971 – December 1982; and Tunis December 1982 – May 1994)

Mahmoud Abbas "Abu Mazen" (From 29 October 2004 – present)

(acting [for Arafat] to 11 November 2004)

Leadership by Yasser Arafat

The resounding defeat of Syria, Jordan and Egypt in the Six Day War of 1967 destroyed the credibility of Arab states that had fought to be patrons for the Palestinian people and their nationalist cause. The war radicalized the Palestinians and significantly weakened Nasser's influence. The way was opened, particularly after the Battle of Karameh in March 1968, for Yasser Arafat to rise to power.^{[citation needed]} He advocated guerrilla warfare and successfully sought to make the PLO a fully independent organization under the control of the fedayeen organizations. At the Palestinian National Congress meeting of 1969, Fatah gained control of the executive bodies of the PLO. Arafat was appointed PLO chairman at the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo on 4 February 1969.^[24]^[25] From then on, the Executive Committee was composed essentially of representatives of the various member organizations.

The PLO at this time did not clearly either accept or reject a two state solution. According to Israeli Likud leader Menachem Begin, the PLO at this time was 'a Nazi organization' and its charter 'an Arabic Mein Kampf'.^[26]

War of attrition

From 1969 to September 1970 the PLO, with passive support from Jordan, fought a war of attrition with Israel. During this time, the PLO launched artillery attacks on the moshavim and kibbutzim of Bet Shean Valley Regional Council, while fedayeen launched numerous attacks on Israeli forces. Israel raided the PLO camps in Jordan, withdrawing only under Jordanian military pressure.^{[citation needed]}

This conflict culminated in Jordan's expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon in July 1971.

Black September in Jordan

Main article: Black September in Jordan

The PLO suffered a major reversal with the Jordanian assault on its armed groups in the events known as Black September in 1970. The Palestinian groups were expelled from Jordan, and during the 1970s, the PLO was effectively an umbrella group of eight organizations headquartered in Damascus and Beirut, all devoted to armed resistance to either Zionism or Israeli occupation, using methods which included direct clashing and guerrilla warfare against Israel. After Black September, the Cairo Agreement led the PLO to establish itself in Lebanon.

Ten Point Program

In 1974, the PNC approved the Ten Point Program^[27] formulated by Fatah's leaders, which calls for the establishment of a national authority over any piece of liberated Palestinian land, and to actively pursue the establishment of a democratic state in Israel/Palestine. The Ten Point Program was considered the first attempt by PLO at a peaceful resolution, though the ultimate goal was "completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory, and as a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity."^[27] Despite the fact that the ten point program calls for the elimination of Israel, it led to several radical PLO factions (such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC and others) which also fought to eliminate Israel, breaking out to form the Rejectionist Front, which would act independently of PLO over the following years. Suspicion between the Arafat-led mainstream and more hard-line factions, inside and outside the PLO, have continued to dominate the inner workings of the organization ever since, often resulting in paralysis or conflicting courses of action. A temporary closing of ranks came in 1977, as Palestinian factions joined with hard-line Arab governments in the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front to condemn Egyptian attempts to reach a separate peace with Israel (eventually resulting in the 1979 Camp David Accords).

Israel claimed to see the Ten Point Program as dangerous, because it allegedly allows the Palestinian leadership to enter negotiations with Israel on issues where Israel can compromise, but under the intention of exploiting the compromises in order to "improve positions" for attacking Israel. The Hebrew term for this is the "Plan of Stages" (Tokhnit HaSHlabim). During the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in the 1990s, some Israelis repeated this suspicion, claiming that the Palestinians' willingness to compromise was just a smoke-screen to implement the Ten Point Program. After the Oslo Accords were signed, Israeli right-wing politicians claimed (and still claim) that this was part of the ploy to implement the Stage Program as Yasser Arafat himself admitted in Arabic many times. The Ten Point Program was never officially cancelled by the Palestinians.^[28]

Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War

Main articles: Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and Lebanese Civil War

In the late 1960s, and especially after the expulsion of the Palestinian militants from Jordan in Black September events in 1970-1971, Lebanon had become the base for PLO operations. Palestinian militant organizations relocated their headquarters to South Lebanon, and relying on the support in Palestinian refugee camps, waged a campaign of attacks on the Galilee and on Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide. Increasing penetration of Palestinians into Lebanese politics and Israeli retaliations gradually deteriorated the situation.

By the mid-1970s, Arafat and his Fatah movement found themselves in a tenuous position.^{[citation needed]} Arafat increasingly called for diplomacy, perhaps best symbolized by his Ten Points Program and his support for a UN Security Council resolution proposed in 1976 calling for a two-state settlement on the pre-1967 borders.^{[citation needed]} But the Rejectionist Front denounced the calls for diplomacy, and a diplomatic solution was vetoed by the United States.^{[citation needed]} In 1975, the increasing tensions between Palestinian militants and Christian militias exploded into the Lebanese Civil War, involving all factions. On 20 January 1976, the PLO took part in the Damour massacre in retaliation to the Karantina massacre. The PLO and Lebanese National Movement attacked the Christian town of Damour, killing 684 civilians and forcing the remainder of the towns population to flee. In 1976 Syria joined the war by invading Lebanon, which began the 29‑year Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and in 1978 Israel invaded South Lebanon, in response to the Coastal Road Massacre, executed by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.

The population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip saw Arafat as their best hope for a resolution to the conflict.^{[citation needed]} This was especially so in the aftermath of the Camp David Accords of 1978 between Israel and Egypt, which the Palestinians saw as a blow to their aspirations to self-determination.^{[citation needed]} Abu Nidal, a sworn enemy of the PLO since 1974,^{[citation needed]} assassinated the PLO's diplomatic envoy to the European Economic Community, which in the Venice Declaration of 1980 had called for the Palestinian right of self-determination to be recognized by Israel.

Opposition to Arafat was fierce not only among radical Arab groups, but also among many on the Israeli right.^{[citation needed]} This included Menachem Begin, who had stated on more than one occasion that even if the PLO accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242 and recognized Israel's right to exist, he would never negotiate with the organization.^[29]^{[verification needed]} This contradicted the official United States position that it would negotiate with the PLO if the PLO accepted Resolution 242 and recognized Israel, which the PLO had thus far been unwilling to do. Other Arab voices had recently called for a diplomatic resolution to the hostilities in accord with the international consensus, including Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat on his visit to Washington, DC in August 1981, and Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia in his 7 August peace proposal; together with Arafat's diplomatic maneuver, these developments made Israel's argument that it had "no partner for peace" seem increasingly problematic. Thus, in the eyes of Israeli hard-liners, "the Palestinians posed a greater challenge to Israel as a peacemaking organization than as a military one".^[30]

After the appointment of Ariel Sharon to the post of Minister of defence in 1981, the Israeli government policy of allowing political growth to occur in the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip changed. The Israeli government tried, unsuccessfully, to dictate terms of political growth by replacing local pro-PLO leaders with an Israeli civil administration.^[31]

In 1982, after an attack on a senior Israeli diplomat by Lebanon-based Palestinian militants in Lebanon, Israel invaded Lebanon in a much larger scale in coordination with the Lebanese Christian militias, reaching Beirut and eventually resulting in ousting of the PLO headquarters in June that year. Low-level Palestinian insurgency in Lebanon continued in parallel with the consolidation of Shia militant organizations, but became a secondary concern to Israeli military and other Lebanese factions. With ousting of the PLO, the Lebanese Civil War gradually turned into a prolonged conflict, shifting from mainly PLO-Christian coflict into involvement of all Lebanese factions - whether Sunni, Shia, Druze, and Christians.

Tunis

In 1982, the PLO relocated to Tunis, Tunisia after it was driven out of Lebanon by Israel during Israel's six-month invasion of Lebanon. Following massive raids by Israeli forces in Beirut, it is estimated that 8,000 PLO fighters evacuated the city and dispersed.^[32]

On 1 October 1985, in Operation Wooden Leg, Israeli Air Force F-15s bombed the PLO's Tunis headquarters, killing more than 60 people.

It is suggested that the Tunis period (1982–1991) was a negative point in the PLO's history, leading up to the Oslo negotiations and formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PLO in exile was distant from a concentrated number of Palestinians and became far less effective.^[33] There was a significant reduction in centres of research, political debates or journalistic endeavours that had encouraged an energised public presence of the PLO in Beirut. More and more Palestinians were abandoned, and many felt that this was the beginning of the end.^[34]

First Intifada

Main article: First Intifada

In 1987, the First Intifada broke out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Intifada caught the PLO by surprise,^[35] and the leadership abroad could only indirectly influence the events. A new local leadership emerged, the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU), comprising many leading Palestinian factions. After King Hussein of Jordan proclaimed the administrative and legal separation of the West Bank from Jordan in 1988,^[36] the Palestine National Council adopted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in Algiers, proclaiming an independent State of Palestine. The declaration made reference to UN resolutions without explicitly mentioning Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

A month later, Arafat declared in Geneva that the PLO would support a solution of the conflict based on these Resolutions. Effectively, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, with the understanding that the Palestinians would be allowed to set up their own state in the West Bank and Gaza. The United States accepted this clarification by Arafat and began to allow diplomatic contacts with PLO officials. The Proclamation of Independence did not lead to statehood, although over 100 states recognised the State of Palestine.

Persian Gulf War

Main article: Palestinian expulsion from Kuwait

In 1990, the PLO under Yasser Arafat openly supported Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi regime's invasion of Kuwait, leading to a later rupture in Palestinian-Kuwaiti ties and the expulsion of many Palestinians from Kuwait. Within a single week, some 450,000 Palestinians were expelled in Kuwait, resulting in one of the fastest and largest expulsions in modern history. Most of the Palestinians, who had resided in Kuwait as foreign workers and residents, returned to Jordan.

Oslo Accords

In 1993, the PLO secretly negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel.^[37] The accords were signed on 20 August 1993.^[37] There was a subsequent public ceremony in Washington D.C. on 13 September 1993 with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin.^[38] The Accords granted the Palestinians right to self-government on the Gaza Strip and the city of Jericho in the West Bank through the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Yasser Arafat was appointed head of the Palestinian Authority and a timetable for elections was laid out which saw Arafat elected president in January 1996, 18 months behind schedule.^{[citation needed]} Although the PLO and the PA are not formally linked, the PLO dominates the administration. The headquarters of the PLO were moved to Ramallah on the West Bank.^[2]^[3]

On 9 September 1993, Arafat issued a press release stating that "the PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security".^[39]

Some Palestinian officials have stated that the peace treaty must be viewed as permanent.^{[citation needed]} According to some opinion polls, a majority of Israelis believe Palestinians should have a state of their own—a major shift in attitude after the Oslo Accord—even though both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, both before and after the Accord.^{[citation needed]} At the same time, a significant portion of the Israeli public and some political leaders (including the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) express doubt over whether a peaceful, coherent state can be founded by the PLO, and call for significant re-organization, including the elimination of all terrorism, before any talk about independence.^{[citation needed]}

Second Intifada

Main article: Al-Aqsa Intifada

The Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada started concurrent with the breakdown of talks at Camp David with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The Intifada never ended officially, but violence hit relatively low levels during 2005. The death toll both military and civilians of the entire conflict in 2000–2004 is estimated to be 3,223 Palestinians and 950 Israelis, although this number is criticized for not differentiating between combatants and civilians.^{[citation needed]} Members of the PLO have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada^{[citation needed]}.

Palestinian National Charter

The Palestinian National Charter as amended in 1968, endorsed the use of armed struggle against the internationally recognized state of Israel.

'Article 10 of the Palestinian National Charter states "Commando (Feday’ee) action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution. It also requires the achieving of unity for the national ('wanted) struggle among the different groupings of the Palestinian people, and between the Palestinian people and the Arab masses, so as to secure the continuation of the revolution, its escalation, and victory."

The most controversial element of text of the Charter were many clauses declaring the creation of the state of Israel "null and void", because it was created by force on Palestinian soil.^{[citation needed]} This is usually interpreted as calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.^{[citation needed]}

In letters exchanged between Arafat and Rabin in conjunction with the 1993 Oslo Accords, Arafat agreed that those clauses would be removed.^{[citation needed]} On 24 April 1996, the Palestine National Council held a meeting in camera, after which it was announced that the Council had voted to nullify or amend all such clauses, and called for a new text to be produced.^[40] At the time, Israeli political figures and academics expressed doubt that this is what had actually taken place, and continued to claim that controversial clauses were still in force.^{[citation needed]}

A letter from Arafat to US President Bill Clinton in 1998 listed the clauses concerned, and a meeting of the Palestine Central Committee approved that list.^{[citation needed]} To remove all doubt, the vote this time was held in a public meeting of PLO, PNC and PCC members which was televised worldwide, and in the presence of Bill Clinton who traveled to the Gaza Strip for that purpose. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted this as the promised nullification^{[citation needed]}. He later wrote, "While the PLO repeatedly committed itself to amend the charter..., no changes have been made despite occasional claims to the contrary."^[41]

However, a new text of the Charter has not been produced, and this is the source of a continuing controversy.^{[citation needed]} Critics of the Palestinian organizations claim that failure proves the insincerity of the clause nullifications.^{[citation needed]} One of several Palestinian responses is that the proper replacement of the Charter will be the constitution of the forthcoming state of Palestine.^{[citation needed]} The published draft constitution states that the territory of Palestine "is an indivisible unit based upon its borders on 4 June 1967" – which clearly implies an acceptance of Israel's existence in its 1967 borders.^{[citation needed]}

Status at the United Nations

Further information: State of Palestine, International recognition of the State of Palestine, List of current Permanent Representatives to the United Nations#United Nations General Assembly observers, and

The United Nations General Assembly recognized the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people" in Resolution 3210 and Resolution 3236, and granted the PLO observer status on 22 November 1974 in Resolution 3237. On 12 January 1976 the UN Security Council voted 11–1 with 3 abstentions to allow the Palestinian Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate without voting rights, a privilege usually restricted to UN member states. It was admitted as a full member of the Asia group on 2 April 1986.^[42]^[43]^[44]

After the Palestinian Declaration of Independence the PLO's representation was renamed Palestine.^[45] On 7 July 1998, this status was extended to allow participation in General Assembly debates, though not in voting.^[46]

By September 2012, with their application for full membership stalled due to the inability of Security Council members to 'make a unanimous recommendation', the Palestine Authority had decided to pursue an upgrade in status from "observer entity" to "non-member observer state". On 27 November it was announced that the appeal had been officially made, and would be put to a vote in the General Assembly on November 29, where their status upgrade was expected to be supported by a majority of states. In addition to granting Palestine "non-member observer state status", the draft resolution "expresses the hope that the Security Council will consider favourably the application submitted on 23 September 2011 by the State of Palestine for admission to full membership in the United Nations, endorses the two state solution based on the pre-1967 borders, and stresses the need for an immediate resumption of negotiations between the two parties."

On Thursday, 29 November 2012, In a 138-9 vote (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations.^[47]^[48] The new status equates Palestine's with that of the Holy See.The change in status was described by The Independent as "de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine".^[49]

The vote was a historic benchmark for the sovereign State of Palestine and its citizens, whilst it was a diplomatic setback for Israel and the United States. Status as an observer state in the UN will allow the State of Palestine to join treaties and specialised UN agencies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation,^[50] the Law of the Seas Treaty and the International Criminal Court. It shall permit Palestine to claim legal rights over its territorial waters and air space as a sovereign state recognised by the UN. It shall also provide the citizens of Palestine with the right to sue for control of the territory that is rightfully theirs in the International Court of Justice and with the legal right to bring war-crimes charges, mainly those relating to Israel's unlawful occupation of the State of Palestine, against Israel in the International Criminal Court.^[51]

The UN has authorised Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as 'The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations',^[52] and Palestine has started to re-title its name accordingly on postal stamps, official documents and passports,^[48]^[53] whilst it has instructed its diplomats to officially represent 'The State of Palestine', as opposed to the 'Palestine National Authority'.^[48] Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents".^[54]

Diplomatic representation

Main article: Foreign relations of the Palestine Liberation Organization

See also: Category:Ambassadors of Palestine

The Palestine Information Office was registered with the Justice Department of the United States as a foreign agent until 1968, when it was closed. It was reopened in 1989 as the Palestine Affairs Center.^[55] The PLO Mission office, in Washington D.C was opened in 1994, and represented the PLO in the United States. On 20 July 2010, the United States Department of State agreed to upgrade the status of the PLO Mission in the United States to "General Delegation of the PLO".^[56]

Recognition by Israel and the Oslo Accords

Further information: Palestinian views on the peace process#Yasser Arafat and the_PLO

In 1993, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat recognized the State of Israel in an official letter to its prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin. In response to Arafat's letter, Israel decided to revert its stance toward the PLO and to recognize the organization as the representative of the Palestinian people.^[39]^[57] This led to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Political status and actions

The PLO began their militancy campaign from its inception with an attack on Israel's National Water Carrier in January 1965.^[21] The PLO was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 1987,^[58]^[59] but in 1988 a presidential waiver was issued which permitted contact with the organization.^[21] The United States attempted to prosecute Yasser Arafat for his complicity in the assassination of two U.S diplomats.^[60] Israel considered the PLO to be a terrorist organization until the Madrid Conference in 1991.^[21] Most of the rest of the world recognized the PLO as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people from the mid-1970s onwards (after the PLO's admission to the UN as an observer.)^[61]

The most notable of what were considered terrorist acts committed by member organizations of the PLO were:

The 1970 Avivim school bus massacre by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), killed nine children, three adults and crippled 19.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second-largest PLO faction after al-Fatah, carried out a number of attacks and plane hijackings mostly directed at Israel, most infamously the Dawson's Field hijackings, which precipitated the Black September in Jordan crisis.
In 1972, the Black September Organization carried out the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes.
In 1974, members of the DFLP seized a school in Israel and killed a total of 26 students and adults and wounded over 70 in the Ma'alot massacre.
The 1975, Savoy Hotel hostage situation killing 8 hostages and 3 soldiers, carried out by Fatah.
The 1978, Coastal Road massacre killing 37 Israelis and wounding 76, also carried out by Fatah.

References

↑ Arabs Create Organization For Recovery of Palestine New York Times; 29 May 1964; "JERUSALEM, (Jordanian Sector) 28 May (Reuters) -The creation of Palestine liberation organization was announced today..."]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 In West Bank, Ramallah looks ever more like capital: "Abbas opened new Ramallah headquarters for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was headquartered in East Jerusalem in the years between its establishment in 1964 and Israel's capture of the land in 1967. "God willing, the headquarters of the PLO will return to Jerusalem soon," Abbas said at the 23 November opening ceremony of the building, which the PLO is renting."
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Abbas: Referendum law is ‘obstacle to peace’: "...Abbas told reporters in Ramallah, where he inaugurated a new headquarters for the PLO."
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Madiha Rashid al Madfai, Jordan, the United States and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974–1991, Cambridge Middle East Library, Cambridge University Press (1993). ISBN 0-521-41523-3. p. 21:"On 28 October 1974, the seventh Arab summit conference held in Rabat designated the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency."
↑ Geldenhuys, Deon (1990). Isolated states: a comparative analysis. Cambridge University Press. p. 155. ISBN 0-521-40268-9. http://books.google.ca/books?id=dVmhhVHvTAMC&pg=PA155. "The organisation has also been recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by well over 100 states…"
↑ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3210. "Invites the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, to participate in the deliberations of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine in plenary meetings."
↑ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236. "Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, …"
↑ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3237
↑ Kim Murphy. "Israel and PLO, in Historic Bid for Peace, Agree to Mutual Recognition," Los Angeles Times, 10 September 1993.
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 1964 Palestinian National Covenant Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "1964covenant" defined multiple times with different content
↑ Helena Cobban, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation(Cambridge University Press, 1984) p.30
↑ The PNC Program of 1974, 8 June 1974. On the site of MidEastWeb for Coexistence R.A. – Middle East Resources. Page includes commentary. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ Arab-Israeli Conflict^{[dead link]} , Encarta
↑ Esam Shashaa, 1974 – PLO representative of the Palestinian people, Zajel, An-Najah National University (Palestine), 26 September 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
↑ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/39, 1 December 2005. Accessed online on the Jewish Virtual Library, 27 December 2006.
↑ William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, Westview Press (2004). ISBN 0-8133-4048-9.
↑ Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, Decisions and Actions Related to the Palestine National Charter
↑ PLO Central Council Members
↑ PALESTINIAN ORGANISATIONS
↑ Palestinian Factions, CRS Report for Congress, Aaron D. Pina, 8 June 2005: "Damascus based faction that is politically close to Syria and is a Marxist group that suspended its participation in the PLO after the 1993 Israel-Palestinian Declaration of Principles. The PFLP-GC split from the PFLP (established by Dr. George Habbash) in 1968, claiming it wanted to focus more on fighting and less on politics."
↑ ^21.0 ^21.1 ^21.2 ^21.3 FUNDING EVIL, How Terrorism Is Financed – and How to Stop It By Rachel Ehrenfeld
↑ Statement of Proclamation of the Organization, Palestine Liberation Organization, Jerusalem, 28 May 1964. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ The Palestinian National Charter, Adopted in 1964 by the 1st Palestinian Conference. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ Al Fatah Chief To Lead Palestinian Liberation; Associated Press; 6 Feb 1969
↑ FATAH WINS CONTROL OF PALESTINE GROUP;New York Times; 5 Feb 1969
↑ Colin Shindler (2008). A history of modern Israel. Cambridge University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-521-61538-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=u0sD-8r7I5QC&pg=PA155.
↑ ^27.0 ^27.1 Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council, Cairo, 8 June 1974. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 18 September 2011. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "tenpointprogram" defined multiple times with different content
↑ (Hebrew) http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/003-D-6200-00.html?tag=23-15-32 nfc.co.il news site.
↑ Smith, op. cit., p. 357
↑ Smith, op. cit., 376
↑ Shaul Mishal, Ranan D. Kuperman, David Boas (2001). Investment in Peace: Politics of Economic Cooperation Between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 1-902210-88-3 p 64
↑ Helena Cobban, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power and Politics, p3
↑ Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage, The Story of the Struffle for Palestinian Statehood, p 180
↑ Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage, The Story of the Struffle for Palestinian Statehood, p164
↑ Yasser Arafat obituary, socialistworld.net (Committee for a Worker’s International) 11 November 2004. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ King Hussein, Address to the Nation, Amman, Jordan, 31 July 1988. On the Royal Hashemit Court's official site in tribute to King Hussein. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ ^37.0 ^37.1 Violent globalisms: conflict in response to empire by Cornelia Beyer
↑ Encyclopedia of the Palestinians; by Philip Mattar; 2005
↑ ^39.0 ^39.1 Israel-PLO Recognition – Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat – 9–1 Sept, 993
↑ Historical dictionary of terrorism by Sean Anderson, Stephen Sloan, Scarecrow Press, 2009
↑ Netanyahu, Benjamin. A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations. Grand Central Publishing. 2002. Page 203.
↑ Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. "Status of Palestine at the United Nations". United Nations. http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/11550;jsessionid=DB37131DB27A165B6398469FFE4DB1FC. Retrieved 9 December 2010. : "On 2 April 1986, the Asian Group of the U.N. decided to accept the PLO as a full member."
↑ United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2002). "Government structures". United Nations. http://www.unctad.org/templates/Page.asp?intItemID=4966&lang=1. Retrieved 5 December 2010. : "At present, the PLO is a full member of the Asian Group of the United Nations".
↑ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 52/250: Participation of Palestine in the work of the United Nations (1998): "Palestine enjoys full membership in the Group of Asian States".
↑ UN General Assembly (9 December 1988). "United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177". UN Information System on the Question of Palestine. http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
↑ The law and practice of the United Nations by Benedetto Conforti
↑ "A/67/L.28 of 26 November 2012 and A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012". Unispal.un.org. http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/181c72112f4d0e0685257ac500515c6c?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
↑ ^48.0 ^48.1 ^48.2 Palestine: What is in a name (change)? - Inside Story. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.
↑ "Israel defies UN after vote on Palestine with plans for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank". The Independent. 1 December 2012. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-un-after-vote-on-palestine-with-plans-for-3000-new-homes-in-the-west-bank-8372494.html.
↑ Abbas has not taken practical steps toward seeking membership for Palestine in UN agencies, something made possible by the November vote
↑ "Palestinians’ UN upgrade to nonmember observer state: Struggles ahead over possible powers". Washington Post. 30 November 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-un-upgrade-to-nonmember-observer-state-struggles-ahead-over-possible-powers/2012/11/29/8f3c3f78-3a59-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html.
↑ Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations - State of Palestine Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations. Un.int. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.
↑ Khoury, Jack. (2013-01-05) Palestinian Authority officially changes name to 'State of Palestine' Israel News Broadcast. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.
↑ Gharib, Ali (2012-12-20). "U.N. Adds New Name: "State of Palestine"". The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
↑ The Palestinian Diaspora: Formation of Identities and Politics of Homeland, By Helena Lindholm Schulz, Juliane Hammer, Routledge, 2003 p. 81
↑ Mozgovaya, Natasha. (2010-07-22) U.S. upgrades status of Palestinian mission in Washington Israel News Broadcast. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.
↑ "At the threshold of peace Mutual recognition ends 3 decades of strife between Israel and PLO ISRAELI-PLO PEACE TALKS". http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-09-10/news/1993253104_1_israel-and-plo-palestinians-israeli-plo. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
↑ U.S. Code TITLE 22 > CHAPTER 61 > § 5201. Findings; determinations, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ 22 USC CHAPTER 61 – ANTI-TERRORISM – PLO, Office of the Law Revision Counsel (United States). Retrieved 5 December 2006.
↑ "Prosecution Of Arafat Rejected". The Washington Post. 22 April 1986.
↑ Hajjar, 2005, p. 53.

Bibliography

Hajjar, Lisa (2005). Courting conflict: the Israeli military court system in the West Bank and Gaza (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24194-0, 9780520241947.

Yezid Sayigh, “Struggle Within, Struggle Without: the Transformation of PLO politics since 1982,” International Affairs vol. 65, no. 2 (spring 1989) pages 247–271.

Official sites

History and Overview

Brief history of the Palestine Liberation Organization by GlobalSecurity.org

Documents

Statement of Proclamation of the Organization (1964)
Palestinian National Charter (1968) published by The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Palestinian National Charter (1964) published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations
PLO Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council Cairo, 8 June 1974 published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations]
Decisions and Actions related to the Palestine National Charter (1996) published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations]
Unofficial Translation^{[dead link]}

of the Statement by the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization 1996 document above

Draft constitution (2003) as published by the Palestine National Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs^{[dead link]}

Constitution of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (1968)

Analysis

Commentary on the Palestine National Charter published by the Jewish Virtual Library
Dean Peter F. Krogh Discusses the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives

General

PLO in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
Collection of Documents, Biographies and other information on the Palestine Liberation Organization published by the Jewish Virtual Library
The Palestinian Vision of Peace (2002) as stated by the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department
Documents regarding the Soviet Ministry of Defense 1983 special operation requested by Yasir Arafat: delivery of two German-built coast guard cutters belonging to the PLO from Syria to Tunis – (PDF in Russian) from the Soviet Archives [1] collected by Vladimir Bukovsky
Photo enlargement shows Palestinians marching in West Berlin, 15 November 69.
Collection of over 150 PLO posters

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Palestine Liberation Organization and the edit history here.

[1] Arabs Create Organization For Recovery of Palestine New York Times; 29 May 1964; "JERUSALEM, (Jordanian Sector) 28 May (Reuters) -The creation of Palestine liberation organization was announced today..."]

[PLOhead1-2] 2.0 ^2.1 In West Bank, Ramallah looks ever more like capital: "Abbas opened new Ramallah headquarters for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was headquartered in East Jerusalem in the years between its establishment in 1964 and Israel's capture of the land in 1967. "God willing, the headquarters of the PLO will return to Jerusalem soon," Abbas said at the 23 November opening ceremony of the building, which the PLO is renting."

[PLOhead2-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Abbas: Referendum law is ‘obstacle to peace’: "...Abbas told reporters in Ramallah, where he inaugurated a new headquarters for the PLO."

[al_-Madfai-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Madiha Rashid al Madfai, Jordan, the United States and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974–1991, Cambridge Middle East Library, Cambridge University Press (1993). ISBN 0-521-41523-3. p. 21:"On 28 October 1974, the seventh Arab summit conference held in Rabat designated the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency."

[Geldenhuysp155-5] Geldenhuys, Deon (1990). Isolated states: a comparative analysis. Cambridge University Press. p. 155. ISBN 0-521-40268-9. http://books.google.ca/books?id=dVmhhVHvTAMC&pg=PA155. "The organisation has also been recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by well over 100 states…"

[6] United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3210. "Invites the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, to participate in the deliberations of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine in plenary meetings."

[7] United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236. "Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, …"

[8] United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3237

[9] Kim Murphy. "Israel and PLO, in Historic Bid for Peace, Agree to Mutual Recognition," Los Angeles Times, 10 September 1993.

[1964covenant-10] 10.0 ^10.1 1964 Palestinian National Covenant Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "1964covenant" defined multiple times with different content

[11] Helena Cobban, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation(Cambridge University Press, 1984) p.30

[plo1974-12] The PNC Program of 1974, 8 June 1974. On the site of MidEastWeb for Coexistence R.A. – Middle East Resources. Page includes commentary. Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[13] Arab-Israeli Conflict^{[dead link]} , Encarta

[14] Esam Shashaa, 1974 – PLO representative of the Palestinian people, Zajel, An-Najah National University (Palestine), 26 September 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2006.

[15] United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/39, 1 December 2005. Accessed online on the Jewish Virtual Library, 27 December 2006.

[16] William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, Westview Press (2004). ISBN 0-8133-4048-9.

[17] Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, Decisions and Actions Related to the Palestine National Charter

[18] PLO Central Council Members

[19] PALESTINIAN ORGANISATIONS

[20] Palestinian Factions, CRS Report for Congress, Aaron D. Pina, 8 June 2005: "Damascus based faction that is politically close to Syria and is a Marxist group that suspended its participation in the PLO after the 1993 Israel-Palestinian Declaration of Principles. The PFLP-GC split from the PFLP (established by Dr. George Habbash) in 1968, claiming it wanted to focus more on fighting and less on politics."

[fundingevil-21] 21.0 ^21.1 ^21.2 ^21.3 FUNDING EVIL, How Terrorism Is Financed – and How to Stop It By Rachel Ehrenfeld

[22] Statement of Proclamation of the Organization, Palestine Liberation Organization, Jerusalem, 28 May 1964. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[23] The Palestinian National Charter, Adopted in 1964 by the 1st Palestinian Conference. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[24] Al Fatah Chief To Lead Palestinian Liberation; Associated Press; 6 Feb 1969

[25] FATAH WINS CONTROL OF PALESTINE GROUP;New York Times; 5 Feb 1969

[Shindler2008-26] Colin Shindler (2008). A history of modern Israel. Cambridge University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-521-61538-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=u0sD-8r7I5QC&pg=PA155.

[tenpointprogram-27] 27.0 ^27.1 Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council, Cairo, 8 June 1974. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 18 September 2011. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "tenpointprogram" defined multiple times with different content

[28] (Hebrew) http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/003-D-6200-00.html?tag=23-15-32 nfc.co.il news site.

[29] Smith, op. cit., p. 357

[30] Smith, op. cit., 376

[31] Shaul Mishal, Ranan D. Kuperman, David Boas (2001). Investment in Peace: Politics of Economic Cooperation Between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 1-902210-88-3 p 64

[32] Helena Cobban, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power and Politics, p3

[33] Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage, The Story of the Struffle for Palestinian Statehood, p 180

[34] Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage, The Story of the Struffle for Palestinian Statehood, p164

[35] Yasser Arafat obituary, socialistworld.net (Committee for a Worker’s International) 11 November 2004. Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[36] King Hussein, Address to the Nation, Amman, Jordan, 31 July 1988. On the Royal Hashemit Court's official site in tribute to King Hussein. Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[beyer-37] 37.0 ^37.1 Violent globalisms: conflict in response to empire by Cornelia Beyer

[38] Encyclopedia of the Palestinians; by Philip Mattar; 2005

[PLOletter-39] 39.0 ^39.1 Israel-PLO Recognition – Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat – 9–1 Sept, 993

[40] Historical dictionary of terrorism by Sean Anderson, Stephen Sloan, Scarecrow Press, 2009

[41] Netanyahu, Benjamin. A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations. Grand Central Publishing. 2002. Page 203.

[42] Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. "Status of Palestine at the United Nations". United Nations. http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/11550;jsessionid=DB37131DB27A165B6398469FFE4DB1FC. Retrieved 9 December 2010. : "On 2 April 1986, the Asian Group of the U.N. decided to accept the PLO as a full member."

[43] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2002). "Government structures". United Nations. http://www.unctad.org/templates/Page.asp?intItemID=4966&lang=1. Retrieved 5 December 2010. : "At present, the PLO is a full member of the Asian Group of the United Nations".

[44] United Nations General Assembly Resolution 52/250: Participation of Palestine in the work of the United Nations (1998): "Palestine enjoys full membership in the Group of Asian States".

[Unispal.un.org-45] UN General Assembly (9 December 1988). "United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177". UN Information System on the Question of Palestine. http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25. Retrieved 29 September 2011.

[46] The law and practice of the United Nations by Benedetto Conforti

[unispal1-47] "A/67/L.28 of 26 November 2012 and A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012". Unispal.un.org. http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/181c72112f4d0e0685257ac500515c6c?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2012-12-02.

[aljazeera.com-48] 48.0 ^48.1 ^48.2 Palestine: What is in a name (change)? - Inside Story. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.

[UNStatehoodBid2012accepted-49] "Israel defies UN after vote on Palestine with plans for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank". The Independent. 1 December 2012. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-un-after-vote-on-palestine-with-plans-for-3000-new-homes-in-the-west-bank-8372494.html.

[50] Abbas has not taken practical steps toward seeking membership for Palestine in UN agencies, something made possible by the November vote

[51] "Palestinians’ UN upgrade to nonmember observer state: Struggles ahead over possible powers". Washington Post. 30 November 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-un-upgrade-to-nonmember-observer-state-struggles-ahead-over-possible-powers/2012/11/29/8f3c3f78-3a59-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html.

[52] Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations - State of Palestine Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations. Un.int. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.

[53] Khoury, Jack. (2013-01-05) Palestinian Authority officially changes name to 'State of Palestine' Israel News Broadcast. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.

[54] Gharib, Ali (2012-12-20). "U.N. Adds New Name: "State of Palestine"". The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html. Retrieved 2013-01-10.

[55] The Palestinian Diaspora: Formation of Identities and Politics of Homeland, By Helena Lindholm Schulz, Juliane Hammer, Routledge, 2003 p. 81

[56] Mozgovaya, Natasha. (2010-07-22) U.S. upgrades status of Palestinian mission in Washington Israel News Broadcast. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.

[baltimoresun-57] "At the threshold of peace Mutual recognition ends 3 decades of strife between Israel and PLO ISRAELI-PLO PEACE TALKS". http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-09-10/news/1993253104_1_israel-and-plo-palestinians-israeli-plo. Retrieved 6 April 2010.

[58] U.S. Code TITLE 22 > CHAPTER 61 > § 5201. Findings; determinations, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[59] 22 USC CHAPTER 61 – ANTI-TERRORISM – PLO, Office of the Law Revision Counsel (United States). Retrieved 5 December 2006.

[60] "Prosecution Of Arafat Rejected". The Washington Post. 22 April 1986.

[Hajjarp53-61] Hajjar, 2005, p. 53.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Redirect2|P.L.O.|PLO|Pot Limit Omaha, a variant of Poker |Omaha hold 'em#Pot-limit Omaha}}
-{{Infobox Political Party
+{{Infobox political party
 |name_english = Palestine Liberation Organization
 |name_native = {{lang|ar|منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية}} <br/>''Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah''</span>
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 |foundation = 28 May 1964<ref>[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00614F93B5F147A93CBAB178ED85F408685F9 Arabs Create Organization For Recovery of Palestine]  New York Times; 29 May 1964; "JERUSALEM, (Jordanian Sector) 28 May (Reuters) -The creation of Palestine liberation organization was announced today..."]</ref>
 |ideology =Palestinian nationalism, socialism
-|headquarters = [[Ramallah]],<ref name="PLOhead1">[http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/30/us-palestinians-ramallah-idUSTRE6AT1VF20101130 In West Bank, Ramallah looks ever more like capital]: "Abbas opened new Ramallah headquarters for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was headquartered in East Jerusalem in the years between its establishment in 1964 and Israel's capture of the land in 1967. "God willing, the headquarters of the PLO will return to Jerusalem soon," Abbas said at the 23 November opening ceremony of the building, which the PLO is renting."</ref><ref name="PLOhead2">[http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=196522 Abbas: Referendum law is ‘obstacle to peace’]: "...Abbas told reporters in Ramallah, where he inaugurated a new headquarters for the PLO."</ref>
+|headquarters = Ramallah,<ref name="PLOhead1">[http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/30/us-palestinians-ramallah-idUSTRE6AT1VF20101130 In West Bank, Ramallah looks ever more like capital]: "Abbas opened new Ramallah headquarters for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was headquartered in East Jerusalem in the years between its establishment in 1964 and Israel's capture of the land in 1967. "God willing, the headquarters of the PLO will return to Jerusalem soon," Abbas said at the 23 November opening ceremony of the building, which the PLO is renting."</ref><ref name="PLOhead2">[http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=196522 Abbas: Referendum law is ‘obstacle to peace’]: "...Abbas told reporters in Ramallah, where he inaugurated a new headquarters for the PLO."</ref>
 |international =
 |website =
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 }}
-The '''Palestine Liberation Organization''' ('''PLO''') ({{lang-ar|منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية}}; {{Audio|ArPLO.ogg|''{{transl|ar|DIN|Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah}}''}})  is an organization created in 1964 with the purpose of creating an independent [[State of Palestine]]. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the [[Palestinian people]]" by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations,<ref name="al -Madfai">Madiha Rashid al Madfai, ''Jordan, the United States and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974–1991'', Cambridge Middle East Library, Cambridge University Press (1993). ISBN 0-521-41523-3. p. 21:"On 28 October 1974, the seventh Arab summit conference held in Rabat designated the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency."</ref><ref name=Geldenhuysp155>{{Cite book|title=Isolated states: a comparative analysis|page=155|first1=Deon|last1=Geldenhuys|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|isbn=0-521-40268-9| url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=dVmhhVHvTAMC&pg=PA155 | quote= The organisation has also been recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by well over 100 states…}}</ref> and has enjoyed observer status at the [[United Nations]] since 1974.<ref>United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3210. "Invites the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, to participate in the deliberations of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine in plenary meetings."</ref><ref>United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236. "Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, …"</ref><ref>United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3237</ref> The PLO was considered by the United States and Israel to be a terrorist organization until the [[Madrid Conference]] in 1991. In 1993, PLO recognized Israel's [[right to exist]] in peace, accepted [[UN Security Council resolution]]s [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|242]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 338|338]], and rejected "violence and terrorism"; in response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as the representative of the [[Palestinian people]].<ref>Kim Murphy. "[http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-10/news/mn-33546_1_mutual-recognition Israel and PLO, in Historic Bid for Peace, Agree to Mutual Recognition]," ''Los Angeles Times'', 10 September 1993.</ref>
+The '''Palestine Liberation Organization''' ('''PLO''') ({{lang-ar|منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية}}; {{Audio|ArPLO.ogg|''{{transl|ar|DIN|Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah}}''}})  is an organization created in 1964 with the purpose of creating an independent [[State of Palestine]]. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations,<ref name="al -Madfai">Madiha Rashid al Madfai, ''Jordan, the United States and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974–1991'', Cambridge Middle East Library, Cambridge University Press (1993). ISBN 0-521-41523-3. p. 21:"On 28 October 1974, the seventh Arab summit conference held in Rabat designated the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency."</ref><ref name=Geldenhuysp155>{{Cite book|title=Isolated states: a comparative analysis|page=155|first1=Deon|last1=Geldenhuys|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|isbn=0-521-40268-9| url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=dVmhhVHvTAMC&pg=PA155 | quote= The organisation has also been recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by well over 100 states…}}</ref> and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.<ref>United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3210. "Invites the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, to participate in the deliberations of the General Assembly on the question of Palestine in plenary meetings."</ref><ref>United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236. "Having heard the statement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people, …"</ref><ref>United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3237</ref> The PLO was considered by the United States and Israel to be a terrorist organization until the [[Madrid Conference]] in 1991. In 1993, PLO recognized Israel's [[right to exist]] in peace, accepted [[UN Security Council resolution]]s [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|242]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 338|338]], and rejected "violence and terrorism"; in response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.<ref>Kim Murphy. "[http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-10/news/mn-33546_1_mutual-recognition Israel and PLO, in Historic Bid for Peace, Agree to Mutual Recognition]," ''Los Angeles Times'', 10 September 1993.</ref>
 ==Founding==
-Conceived by the Arab states at the first Arab summit meeting, the [[1964 Arab League summit (Cairo)]], its stated goal was the "liberation of [[Palestine]]" through [[armed struggle]]. The organization was called Palestinian Liberation Organization.<ref name=1964covenant>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp 1964 Palestinian National Covenant]</ref> The original PLO Charter (issued on 28 May 1964<ref>[[Helena Cobban]], ''The Palestinian Liberation Organisation''(Cambridge University Press, 1984) p.30</ref>) stated that "Palestine with its boundaries that existed at the time of the [[British Mandate for Palestine|British mandate]] is an integral regional unit" and sought to "prohibit... the existence and activity" of Zionism.<ref name=1964covenant>Articles 2 and 23 of the Palestinian National Covenant</ref> It also called for a [[right of return]] and [[self-determination]] for Palestinians. Palestinian statehood was not mentioned, although in 1974 the PLO called for an independent state in the territory of [[British Mandate of Palestine|Mandate Palestine]].<ref name=plo1974>[http://www.mideastweb.org/plo1974.htm The PNC Program of 1974], 8 June 1974. On the site of MidEastWeb for Coexistence R.A. – Middle East Resources. Page includes commentary. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> The group used multi-layered [[guerrilla]] tactics to attack Israel from their bases in [[Jordan]] (including the [[West Bank]]), [[Lebanon]], Egypt ([[Gaza Strip]]), and [[Syria]].<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588322_2/arab-israeli_conflict.html Arab-Israeli Conflict]{{Dead link|date=November 2013}}, [[Encarta]]</ref>
+Conceived by the Arab states at the first Arab summit meeting, the [[1964 Arab League summit (Cairo)]], its stated goal was the "liberation of Palestine" through [[armed struggle]]. The organization was called Palestinian Liberation Organization.<ref name=1964covenant>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp 1964 Palestinian National Covenant]</ref> The original PLO Charter (issued on 28 May 1964<ref>[[Helena Cobban]], ''The Palestinian Liberation Organisation''(Cambridge University Press, 1984) p.30</ref>) stated that "Palestine with its boundaries that existed at the time of the British mandate is an integral regional unit" and sought to "prohibit... the existence and activity" of Zionism.<ref name=1964covenant>Articles 2 and 23 of the Palestinian National Covenant</ref> It also called for a [[right of return]] and self-determination for Palestinians. Palestinian statehood was not mentioned, although in 1974 the PLO called for an independent state in the territory of Mandate Palestine.<ref name=plo1974>[http://www.mideastweb.org/plo1974.htm The PNC Program of 1974], 8 June 1974. On the site of MidEastWeb for Coexistence R.A. – Middle East Resources. Page includes commentary. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> The group used multi-layered [[guerrilla]] tactics to attack Israel from their bases in Jordan (including the West Bank), Lebanon, Egypt (Gaza Strip), and Syria.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588322_2/arab-israeli_conflict.html Arab-Israeli Conflict]{{Dead link|date=November 2014}}, [[Encarta]]</ref>
 ==Politics==
-{{see also|Politics of the Palestinian National Authority|Politics of the State of Palestine}}
+{{See also|Politics of the Palestinian National Authority|Politics of the State of Palestine}}
 ===Organization===
 [[File:Orient House.jpg|thumb|[[Orient House]], the former PLO headquarters in Jerusalem]]
-The PLO has a nominal legislative body, the [[Palestinian National Council]] (PNC), but most actual political power and decisions are controlled by the [[PLO Executive Committee]], made up of 18 people elected by the PNC. The PLO incorporates a range of generally secular ideologies of different Palestinian movements committed to the struggle for Palestinian independence and liberation, hence the name of the organization. The Palestine Liberation Organization is considered by the Arab League<ref name="al -Madfai"/><ref>Esam Shashaa, [http://www.zajel.org/article_view.asp?newsID=1415&cat=6 1974 – PLO representative of the Palestinian people], Zajel, An-Najah National University (Palestine), 26 September 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2006.</ref> and by the United Nations<ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/unga60_39.html United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/39], 1 December 2005. Accessed online on the Jewish Virtual Library, 27 December 2006.</ref> to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and holds a permanent observer seat in the [[United Nations General Assembly]]. It has been widely criticized, however, over the lack of [[Hamas]] presence in the Organization, even after Hamas won almost two-thirds of the seats in the 2006 legislative council elections.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+The PLO has a nominal legislative body, the [[Palestinian National Council]] (PNC), but most actual political power and decisions are controlled by the [[PLO Executive Committee]], made up of 18 people elected by the PNC. The PLO incorporates a range of generally secular ideologies of different Palestinian movements committed to the struggle for Palestinian independence and liberation, hence the name of the organization. The Palestine Liberation Organization is considered by the Arab League<ref name="al -Madfai"/><ref>Esam Shashaa, [http://www.zajel.org/article_view.asp?newsID=1415&cat=6 1974 – PLO representative of the Palestinian people], Zajel, An-Najah National University (Palestine), 26 September 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2006.</ref> and by the United Nations<ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/unga60_39.html United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/39], 1 December 2005. Accessed online on the Jewish Virtual Library, 27 December 2006.</ref> to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and holds a permanent observer seat in the United Nations General Assembly. It has been widely criticized, however, over the lack of [[Hamas]] presence in the Organization, even after Hamas won almost two-thirds of the seats in the 2006 legislative council elections.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
-[[Yasser Arafat]] was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by [[Mahmoud Abbas]] (also known as Abu Mazen).
+Yasser Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by [[Mahmoud Abbas]] (also known as Abu Mazen).
-Initially, as an armed guerrilla organization, the PLO was responsible for violent actions performed against Israel in the 1970s and early 1980s, regarded as terroristic activities by Israel and regarded as a [[war of liberation]] by the PLO. In 1988, however, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as making [[East Jerusalem]] capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the [[right of return]] to land occupied by Palestinians prior to 1948, as well as the right to continue armed struggle until the end of "The [[Zionist Entity]]."<ref>William L. Cleveland, ''A History of the Modern Middle East'', Westview Press (2004). ISBN 0-8133-4048-9.</ref>
+Initially, as an armed guerrilla organization, the PLO was responsible for violent actions performed against Israel in the 1970s and early 1980s, regarded as terroristic activities by Israel and regarded as a [[war of liberation]] by the PLO. In 1988, however, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the [[right of return]] to land occupied by Palestinians prior to 1948, as well as the right to continue armed struggle until the end of "The [[Zionist Entity]]."<ref>William L. Cleveland, ''A History of the Modern Middle East'', Westview Press (2004). ISBN 0-8133-4048-9.</ref>
 In 1996, the PLO nullified the articles of the PLO's Charter, or parts of it, which called for the destruction of Israel and for armed resistance.<ref>Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, [http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/12361 ''Decisions and Actions Related to the Palestine National Charter'']</ref>
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 ===Membership===
-The PLO has no central decision-making or mechanism that enables it to directly control its factions, but they are supposed to follow the PLO charter and Executive Committee decisions. Membership has fluctuated, and some organizations have left the PLO or suspended membership during times of political turbulence, but most often these groups eventually rejoined the organization. Not all PLO activists are members of one of the factions – for example, many PNC delegates are elected as independents.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+The PLO has no central decision-making or mechanism that enables it to directly control its factions, but they are supposed to follow the PLO charter and Executive Committee decisions. Membership has fluctuated, and some organizations have left the PLO or suspended membership during times of political turbulence, but most often these groups eventually rejoined the organization. Not all PLO activists are members of one of the factions – for example, many PNC delegates are elected as independents.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
 '''Present members include:'''
-* [[Fatah]] – Largest faction, [[Left-wing Nationalism]], Palestinian nationalist.
+* Fatah – Largest faction, [[Left-wing Nationalism]], Palestinian nationalist.
 * The [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) – Second largest, radically far-left militant and communist
 * The [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (DFLP) – Third largest, communist
 * The [[Palestinian People's Party]] (PPP) – Ex-communist, [[Social Democratic]], non-militant
 * The [[Palestine Liberation Front]] (PLF, [[Abu Abbas]] faction) – Minor left-wing faction
-* The [[Arab Liberation Front]] (ALF) – Minor faction, aligned to the [[Iraq]]i [[Ba'ath Party]]
+* The [[Arab Liberation Front]] (ALF) – Minor faction, aligned to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party
-* [[As-Sa'iqa]] – [[Syria]]n-controlled Ba'athist faction
+* [[As-Sa'iqa]] – Syrian-controlled Ba'athist faction
 * The [[Palestine Democratic Union]] (Fida) – Minor democratic socialist, 2 state solution, non militant faction
 * The [[Palestinian Popular Struggle Front]] (PPSF, Samir Ghawsha faction) – minor socialist faction
@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 The Palestinian National Council convened in Jerusalem on 28 May 1964. Concluding this meeting the PLO was founded on 2 June 1964. Its ''Statement of Proclamation of the Organization''<ref>[http://www.un.int/palestine/PLO/doc3plo.html Statement of Proclamation of the Organization], Palestine Liberation Organization, Jerusalem, 28 May 1964. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> declared "... the right of the Palestinian Arab people to its sacred homeland Palestine and affirming the inevitability of the battle to liberate the usurped part from it, and its determination to bring out its effective revolutionary entity and the mobilization of the capabilities and potentialities and its material, military and spiritual forces".
-Due to the influence of the Egyptian President [[Nasser]], the PLO supported '[[Pan-Arabism]]', as advocated by him – this was the ideology that the Arabs should live in one state. <!-- PROOF PLEASE THEN UNCOMMENT Nonetheless, the core idea of the PLO from the beginning was to represent the Palestinian People under Jordanian and Egyptian Rule and in exile, with the aim of an independent Palestinian State. --> The first executive committee was formed on 9 August, with [[Ahmad Shuqeiri]] as its leader.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+Due to the influence of the Egyptian President [[Nasser]], the PLO supported '[[Pan-Arabism]]', as advocated by him – this was the ideology that the Arabs should live in one state. <!-- PROOF PLEASE THEN UNCOMMENT Nonetheless, the core idea of the PLO from the beginning was to represent the Palestinian People under Jordanian and Egyptian Rule and in exile, with the aim of an independent Palestinian State. --> The first executive committee was formed on 9 August, with [[Ahmad Shuqeiri]] as its leader.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
 In spite of the [[1949 Armistice Agreements]], the Arab states remained unreconciled to Israel's creation as they had been to the proposed [[1947 UN Partition Plan|partition of Palestine]] in 1948. Therefore, the [[Palestinian National Charter]] of 1964<ref>[http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/pid/12363 The Palestinian National Charter], Adopted in 1964 by the 1st Palestinian Conference. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> stated: "The claims of historic and spiritual ties between Jews and Palestine are not in agreement with the facts of history or with the true basis of sound statehood... [T]he Jews are not one people with an independent personality because they are citizens to their states." (Article 18).
-Although Egypt and Jordan supported the creation of a Palestinian state on land that they recognised as being occupied by Israel, they would not grant sovereignty to the Palestinian people in lands under Jordanian and Egyptian military occupation, amounting to 53% of the territory allocated to Arabs under the UN Partition Plan. Hence, Article 24: "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the [[West Bank]], the Gaza Strip or in the [[Himmah Area]]."
+Although Egypt and Jordan supported the creation of a Palestinian state on land that they recognised as being occupied by Israel, they would not grant sovereignty to the Palestinian people in lands under Jordanian and Egyptian military occupation, amounting to 53% of the territory allocated to Arabs under the UN Partition Plan. Hence, Article 24: "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank, the Gaza Strip or in the [[Himmah Area]]."
 ===Executive Committee Chairmen===
 * [[Ahmad Shukeiri]] (10 June 1964 – 24 December 1967)
 * [[Yahya Hammuda]] (24 December 1967 –  2 February 1969)
-* [[Yasser Arafat]] "Abu Amar" (4 February 1969 – 11 November 2004)
+* Yasser Arafat "Abu Amar" (4 February 1969 – 11 November 2004)
 ::(in exile in Jordan to April 1971; Lebanon 1971 – December 1982; and Tunis December 1982 – May 1994)
 * [[Mahmoud Abbas]] "Abu Mazen" (From 29 October 2004 – present)
@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 ===Leadership by Yasser Arafat===
-The resounding defeat of Syria, Jordan and Egypt in the [[Six Day War]] of 1967 destroyed the credibility of Arab states that had fought to be patrons for the Palestinian people and their nationalist cause. The war radicalized the Palestinians and significantly weakened Nasser's influence. The way was opened, particularly after the [[Battle of Karameh]] in March 1968, for [[Yasser Arafat]] to rise to power.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} He advocated [[guerrilla warfare]] and successfully sought to make the PLO a fully independent organization under the control of the [[fedayeen]] organizations. At the Palestinian National Congress meeting of 1969, [[Fatah]] gained control of the executive bodies of the PLO. Arafat was appointed PLO chairman at the [[Palestinian National Congress]] in [[Cairo]] on 4 February 1969.<ref>[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HAJIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1f8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2064,4351664&dq=arafat&hl=en Al Fatah Chief To Lead Palestinian Liberation; Associated Press; 6 Feb 1969]</ref><ref>[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C14F839541A7493C7A91789D85F4D8685F9 FATAH WINS CONTROL OF PALESTINE GROUP;New York Times; 5 Feb 1969]</ref> From then on, the Executive Committee was composed essentially of representatives of the various member organizations.
+The resounding defeat of Syria, Jordan and Egypt in the [[Six Day War]] of 1967 destroyed the credibility of Arab states that had fought to be patrons for the Palestinian people and their nationalist cause. The war radicalized the Palestinians and significantly weakened Nasser's influence. The way was opened, particularly after the [[Battle of Karameh]] in March 1968, for Yasser Arafat to rise to power.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} He advocated [[guerrilla warfare]] and successfully sought to make the PLO a fully independent organization under the control of the [[fedayeen]] organizations. At the Palestinian National Congress meeting of 1969, Fatah gained control of the executive bodies of the PLO. Arafat was appointed PLO chairman at the [[Palestinian National Congress]] in Cairo on 4 February 1969.<ref>[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HAJIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1f8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2064,4351664&dq=arafat&hl=en Al Fatah Chief To Lead Palestinian Liberation; Associated Press; 6 Feb 1969]</ref><ref>[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C14F839541A7493C7A91789D85F4D8685F9 FATAH WINS CONTROL OF PALESTINE GROUP;New York Times; 5 Feb 1969]</ref> From then on, the Executive Committee was composed essentially of representatives of the various member organizations.
-The PLO at this time did not clearly either accept or reject a two state solution. According to Israeli [[Likud]] leader [[Menachem Begin]], the PLO at this time was 'a Nazi organization' and its charter 'an Arabic Mein Kampf'.<ref name="Shindler2008">{{cite book|author=Colin Shindler|title=A history of modern Israel|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=u0sD-8r7I5QC&pg=PA155|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-61538-9|page=155}}</ref>
+The PLO at this time did not clearly either accept or reject a two state solution. According to Israeli Likud leader [[Menachem Begin]], the PLO at this time was 'a Nazi organization' and its charter 'an Arabic Mein Kampf'.<ref name="Shindler2008">{{cite book|author=Colin Shindler|title=A history of modern Israel|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=u0sD-8r7I5QC&pg=PA155|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-61538-9|page=155}}</ref>
 ===War of attrition===
-From 1969 to September 1970 the PLO, with passive support from Jordan, fought a [[war of attrition]] with Israel. During this time, the PLO launched artillery attacks on the [[moshav]]im and [[kibbutz]]im of [[Bet Shean Valley Regional Council]], while [[fedayeen]] launched numerous attacks on Israeli forces. Israel raided the PLO camps in Jordan, withdrawing only under Jordanian military pressure.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}
+From 1969 to September 1970 the PLO, with passive support from Jordan, fought a [[war of attrition]] with Israel. During this time, the PLO launched artillery attacks on the [[moshav]]im and kibbutzim of [[Bet Shean Valley Regional Council]], while [[fedayeen]] launched numerous attacks on Israeli forces. Israel raided the PLO camps in Jordan, withdrawing only under Jordanian military pressure.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
 This conflict culminated in Jordan's expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon in July 1971.
@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 {{Main|Black September in Jordan}}
-The PLO suffered a major reversal with the Jordanian assault on its armed groups in the events known as [[Black September in Jordan|Black September]] in 1970. The Palestinian groups were expelled from Jordan, and during the 1970s, the PLO was effectively an [[umbrella group]] of eight organizations headquartered in [[Damascus]] and [[Beirut]], all devoted to armed resistance to either Zionism or Israeli occupation, using methods which included direct clashing and [[guerrilla warfare]] against Israel. After Black September, the [[Cairo Agreement]] led the PLO to establish itself in Lebanon.
+The PLO suffered a major reversal with the Jordanian assault on its armed groups in the events known as [[Black September in Jordan|Black September]] in 1970. The Palestinian groups were expelled from Jordan, and during the 1970s, the PLO was effectively an [[umbrella group]] of eight organizations headquartered in Damascus and Beirut, all devoted to armed resistance to either Zionism or Israeli occupation, using methods which included direct clashing and [[guerrilla warfare]] against Israel. After Black September, the [[Cairo Agreement]] led the PLO to establish itself in Lebanon.
 ===Ten Point Program===
 In 1974, the PNC approved the [[PLO's Ten Point Program|Ten Point Program]]<ref name=tenpointprogram>[http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/12354;jsessionid=704B7796CCBC72ACC579828A2197F8B9 Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council], Cairo, 8 June 1974. Online on the site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Retrieved 18 September 2011.</ref> formulated by Fatah's leaders, which calls for the establishment of a national authority over any piece of liberated Palestinian land, and to actively pursue the establishment of a democratic state in Israel/Palestine. The Ten Point Program was considered the first attempt by PLO at a peaceful resolution, though the ultimate goal was "completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory, and as a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity."<ref name=tenpointprogram>Point 8th of the Ten Point Program of the PLO</ref>
 Despite the fact that the ten point program calls for the elimination of Israel, it led to several radical PLO factions (such as the [[PFLP]], [[PFLP-GC]] and others) which also fought to eliminate Israel, breaking out to form the [[Rejectionist Front]], which would act independently of PLO over the following years. Suspicion between the Arafat-led mainstream and more hard-line factions, inside and outside the PLO, have continued to dominate the inner workings of the organization ever since, often resulting in paralysis or conflicting courses of action. A temporary closing of ranks came in 1977, as Palestinian factions joined with hard-line Arab governments in the [[Steadfastness and Confrontation Front]] to condemn Egyptian attempts to reach a separate peace with Israel (eventually resulting in the 1979 [[Camp David Accords]]).
@@ Line 101: / Line 100: @@
 In the late 1960s, and especially after the expulsion of the Palestinian militants from Jordan in [[Black September in Jordan|Black September events in 1970-1971]], Lebanon had become the base for PLO operations. Palestinian militant organizations relocated their headquarters to South Lebanon, and relying on the support in Palestinian refugee camps, waged a campaign of attacks on the Galilee and on Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide. Increasing penetration of Palestinians into Lebanese politics and Israeli retaliations gradually deteriorated the situation.
-By the mid-1970s, Arafat and his Fatah movement found themselves in a tenuous position.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} Arafat increasingly called for diplomacy, perhaps best symbolized by his Ten Points Program and his support for a UN Security Council resolution proposed in 1976 calling for a [[two-state solution|two-state settlement]] on the pre-1967 borders.{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}} But the [[Rejectionist Front]] denounced the calls for diplomacy, and a diplomatic solution was vetoed by the United States.{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}} In 1975, the increasing tensions between Palestinian militants and Christian militias exploded into the [[Lebanese Civil War]], involving all factions. On 20 January 1976, the PLO took part in the [[Damour massacre]] in retaliation to the [[Karantina massacre]]. The PLO and [[Lebanese National Movement]] attacked the Christian town of [[Damour]], killing 684 civilians and forcing the remainder of the towns population to flee. In 1976 Syria joined the war by invading Lebanon, which began the 29‑year [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon]], and in 1978 Israel invaded South Lebanon, in response to the [[Coastal Road Massacre]], executed by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.
+By the mid-1970s, Arafat and his Fatah movement found themselves in a tenuous position.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} Arafat increasingly called for diplomacy, perhaps best symbolized by his Ten Points Program and his support for a UN Security Council resolution proposed in 1976 calling for a [[two-state solution|two-state settlement]] on the pre-1967 borders.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} But the [[Rejectionist Front]] denounced the calls for diplomacy, and a diplomatic solution was vetoed by the United States.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} In 1975, the increasing tensions between Palestinian militants and Christian militias exploded into the [[Lebanese Civil War]], involving all factions. On 20 January 1976, the PLO took part in the [[Damour massacre]] in retaliation to the [[Karantina massacre]]. The PLO and [[Lebanese National Movement]] attacked the Christian town of Damour, killing 684 civilians and forcing the remainder of the towns population to flee. In 1976 Syria joined the war by invading Lebanon, which began the 29‑year [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon]], and in 1978 Israel invaded South Lebanon, in response to the [[Coastal Road Massacre]], executed by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.
-The population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip saw Arafat as their best hope for a resolution to the conflict.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} This was especially so in the aftermath of the [[Camp David Accords]] of 1978 between Israel and Egypt, which the Palestinians saw as a blow to their aspirations to self-determination.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} [[Abu Nidal]], a sworn enemy of the PLO since 1974,{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} assassinated the PLO's diplomatic envoy to the [[European Economic Community]], which in the [[Venice Declaration]] of 1980 had called for the Palestinian right of self-determination to be recognized by Israel.
+The population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip saw Arafat as their best hope for a resolution to the conflict.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} This was especially so in the aftermath of the [[Camp David Accords]] of 1978 between Israel and Egypt, which the Palestinians saw as a blow to their aspirations to self-determination.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} [[Abu Nidal]], a sworn enemy of the PLO since 1974,{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} assassinated the PLO's diplomatic envoy to the European Economic Community, which in the [[Venice Declaration]] of 1980 had called for the Palestinian right of self-determination to be recognized by Israel.
-Opposition to Arafat was fierce not only among radical Arab groups, but also among many on the Israeli right.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} This included [[Menachem Begin]], who had stated on more than one occasion that even if the PLO accepted [[UN Security Council Resolution 242]] and recognized Israel's right to exist, he would never negotiate with the organization.<ref>Smith, op. cit., p.&nbsp;357</ref>{{verify source|date=April 2012}} This contradicted the official United States position that it would negotiate with the PLO if the PLO accepted Resolution 242 and recognized Israel, which the PLO had thus far been unwilling to do. Other Arab voices had recently called for a diplomatic resolution to the hostilities in accord with the international consensus, including Egyptian leader [[Anwar Sadat]] on his visit to Washington, DC in August 1981, and Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia in his 7 August peace proposal; together with Arafat's diplomatic maneuver, these developments made Israel's argument that it had "no partner for peace" seem increasingly problematic. Thus, in the eyes of Israeli hard-liners, "the Palestinians posed a greater challenge to Israel as a peacemaking organization than as a military one".<ref>Smith, op. cit., 376</ref>
+Opposition to Arafat was fierce not only among radical Arab groups, but also among many on the Israeli right.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} This included [[Menachem Begin]], who had stated on more than one occasion that even if the PLO accepted [[UN Security Council Resolution 242]] and recognized Israel's right to exist, he would never negotiate with the organization.<ref>Smith, op. cit., p.&nbsp;357</ref>{{verify source|date=April 2014}} This contradicted the official United States position that it would negotiate with the PLO if the PLO accepted Resolution 242 and recognized Israel, which the PLO had thus far been unwilling to do. Other Arab voices had recently called for a diplomatic resolution to the hostilities in accord with the international consensus, including Egyptian leader [[Anwar Sadat]] on his visit to Washington, DC in August 1981, and Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia in his 7 August peace proposal; together with Arafat's diplomatic maneuver, these developments made Israel's argument that it had "no partner for peace" seem increasingly problematic. Thus, in the eyes of Israeli hard-liners, "the Palestinians posed a greater challenge to Israel as a peacemaking organization than as a military one".<ref>Smith, op. cit., 376</ref>
 After the appointment of Ariel Sharon to the post of Minister of defence in 1981, the Israeli government policy of allowing political growth to occur in the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip changed. The Israeli government tried, unsuccessfully, to dictate terms of political growth by replacing local pro-PLO leaders with an Israeli civil administration.<ref>Shaul Mishal, Ranan D. Kuperman, David Boas (2001). ''Investment in Peace: Politics of Economic Cooperation Between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority''. Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 1-902210-88-3 p 64</ref>
@@ Line 121: / Line 120: @@
 {{Main|First Intifada}}
-In 1987, the [[First Intifada]] broke out in the [[West Bank]] and Gaza Strip. The Intifada caught the PLO by surprise,<ref>[http://www.socialistworld.net/eng/2004/11/11arafat.html Yasser Arafat obituary], socialistworld.net (Committee for a Worker’s International) 11 November 2004. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> and the leadership abroad could only indirectly influence the events. A new local leadership emerged, the [[Unified National Leadership of the Uprising]] (UNLU), comprising many leading Palestinian factions. After [[King Hussein]] of Jordan proclaimed the administrative and legal separation of the West Bank from Jordan in 1988,<ref>King Hussein, [http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/88_july31.html Address to the Nation], Amman, Jordan, 31 July 1988. On the Royal Hashemit Court's official site in tribute to King Hussein. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> the Palestine National Council adopted the [[Palestinian Declaration of Independence]] in [[Algiers]], proclaiming an independent [[State of Palestine]]. The declaration made reference to UN resolutions without explicitly mentioning Security Council [[UN Security Council Resolution 242|Resolutions 242]] and [[UN Security Council Resolution 338|338]].
+In 1987, the [[First Intifada]] broke out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Intifada caught the PLO by surprise,<ref>[http://www.socialistworld.net/eng/2004/11/11arafat.html Yasser Arafat obituary], socialistworld.net (Committee for a Worker’s International) 11 November 2004. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> and the leadership abroad could only indirectly influence the events. A new local leadership emerged, the [[Unified National Leadership of the Uprising]] (UNLU), comprising many leading Palestinian factions. After [[King Hussein]] of Jordan proclaimed the administrative and legal separation of the West Bank from Jordan in 1988,<ref>King Hussein, [http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/88_july31.html Address to the Nation], Amman, Jordan, 31 July 1988. On the Royal Hashemit Court's official site in tribute to King Hussein. Retrieved 5 December 2006.</ref> the Palestine National Council adopted the [[Palestinian Declaration of Independence]] in Algiers, proclaiming an independent [[State of Palestine]]. The declaration made reference to UN resolutions without explicitly mentioning Security Council [[UN Security Council Resolution 242|Resolutions 242]] and [[UN Security Council Resolution 338|338]].
-A month later, Arafat declared in [[Geneva]] that the PLO would support a solution of the conflict based on these Resolutions. Effectively, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, with the understanding that the Palestinians would be allowed to set up their own state in the West Bank and Gaza. The United States accepted this clarification by Arafat and began to allow diplomatic contacts with PLO officials.<!--While the Intifada many members of PLO organizations take a part at the activities or organized them, especially as "Unified Intifada Leadership" and its branches. At the beginning that activities weren't organized by the PLO itself. But, later the activities (especially the violent ones, like killing Israelis or collaborators) were more and more organized by the PLO. IS THERE A SOURCE FOR THIS? The UIL paid allegiance to the PLO, but how directly influenced it was by the PLO needs to be clarified. That the PLO was responsible for the more violent acts needs a source, please/!--> The Proclamation of Independence did not lead to statehood, although over 100 states [[International recognition of the State of Palestine|recognised]] the State of Palestine.
+A month later, Arafat declared in Geneva that the PLO would support a solution of the conflict based on these Resolutions. Effectively, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, with the understanding that the Palestinians would be allowed to set up their own state in the West Bank and Gaza. The United States accepted this clarification by Arafat and began to allow diplomatic contacts with PLO officials.<!--While the Intifada many members of PLO organizations take a part at the activities or organized them, especially as "Unified Intifada Leadership" and its branches. At the beginning that activities weren't organized by the PLO itself. But, later the activities (especially the violent ones, like killing Israelis or collaborators) were more and more organized by the PLO. IS THERE A SOURCE FOR THIS? The UIL paid allegiance to the PLO, but how directly influenced it was by the PLO needs to be clarified. That the PLO was responsible for the more violent acts needs a source, please/!--> The Proclamation of Independence did not lead to statehood, although over 100 states [[International recognition of the State of Palestine|recognised]] the State of Palestine.
 ===Persian Gulf War===
 {{main|Palestinian expulsion from Kuwait}}
-In 1990, the PLO under Yasser Arafat openly supported [[Saddam Hussein]] in the Iraqi regime's [[invasion of Kuwait]], leading to a later rupture in Palestinian-Kuwaiti ties and the expulsion of many Palestinians from [[Kuwait]]. Within a single week, some 450,000 Palestinians were expelled in Kuwait, resulting in one of the fastest and largest expulsions in modern history. Most of the Palestinians, who had resided in Kuwait as foreign workers and residents, returned to [[Jordan]].
+In 1990, the PLO under Yasser Arafat openly supported [[Saddam Hussein]] in the Iraqi regime's [[invasion of Kuwait]], leading to a later rupture in Palestinian-Kuwaiti ties and the expulsion of many Palestinians from Kuwait. Within a single week, some 450,000 Palestinians were expelled in Kuwait, resulting in one of the fastest and largest expulsions in modern history. Most of the Palestinians, who had resided in Kuwait as foreign workers and residents, returned to Jordan.
 ===Oslo Accords===
-In 1993, the PLO secretly negotiated the [[Oslo Accords]] with Israel.<ref name=beyer>[http://books.google.com/books?id=2EzIySCw9VIC&pg=PA116&dq=PLO+secretly+negotiated+1993&hl=en&ei=kdl1TuLdA4rdgQflwenEDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=PLO%20secretly%20negotiated%201993&f=false Violent globalisms: conflict in response to empire by Cornelia Beyer]</ref> The accords were signed on 20 August 1993.<ref name=beyer /> There was a subsequent public ceremony in Washington D.C. on 13 September 1993 with Yasser Arafat and [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA66&dq=%22september+13+1993%22+arafat&hl=en&ei=S9V1Tr3JC4bLgQeD9_nODA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22september%2013%201993%22%20arafat&f=false Encyclopedia of the Palestinians; by Philip Mattar; 2005]</ref> The Accords granted the Palestinians right to self-government on the Gaza Strip and the city of [[Jericho]] in the [[West Bank]] through the creation of the [[Palestinian Authority]]. Yasser Arafat was appointed head of the Palestinian Authority and a timetable for elections was laid out which saw Arafat elected president in January 1996, 18 months behind schedule.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} Although the PLO and the PA are not formally linked, the PLO dominates the administration. The headquarters of the PLO were moved to [[Ramallah]] on the West Bank.<ref name="PLOhead1"/><ref name="PLOhead2"/>
+In 1993, the PLO secretly negotiated the [[Oslo Accords]] with Israel.<ref name=beyer>[http://books.google.com/books?id=2EzIySCw9VIC&pg=PA116&dq=PLO+secretly+negotiated+1993&hl=en&ei=kdl1TuLdA4rdgQflwenEDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=PLO%20secretly%20negotiated%201993&f=false Violent globalisms: conflict in response to empire by Cornelia Beyer]</ref> The accords were signed on 20 August 1993.<ref name=beyer /> There was a subsequent public ceremony in Washington D.C. on 13 September 1993 with Yasser Arafat and [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA66&dq=%22september+13+1993%22+arafat&hl=en&ei=S9V1Tr3JC4bLgQeD9_nODA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22september%2013%201993%22%20arafat&f=false Encyclopedia of the Palestinians; by Philip Mattar; 2005]</ref> The Accords granted the Palestinians right to self-government on the Gaza Strip and the city of Jericho in the West Bank through the creation of the [[Palestinian Authority]]. Yasser Arafat was appointed head of the Palestinian Authority and a timetable for elections was laid out which saw Arafat elected president in January 1996, 18 months behind schedule.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} Although the PLO and the PA are not formally linked, the PLO dominates the administration. The headquarters of the PLO were moved to Ramallah on the West Bank.<ref name="PLOhead1"/><ref name="PLOhead2"/>
 On 9 September 1993, Arafat issued a press release stating that "the PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security".<ref name="PLOletter">[http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/36917473237100e285257028006c0bc5 Israel-PLO Recognition – Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat –  9–1 Sept, 993]</ref>
-Some Palestinian officials have stated that the peace treaty must be viewed as permanent.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} According to some opinion polls, a majority of Israelis believe Palestinians should have a state of their own—a major shift in attitude after the Oslo Accord—even though both [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and [[Shimon Peres]] opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, both before and after the Accord.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} At the same time, a significant portion of the Israeli public and some political leaders (including the current Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]]) express doubt over whether a peaceful, coherent state can be founded by the PLO, and call for significant re-organization, including the elimination of all terrorism, before any talk about independence.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+Some Palestinian officials have stated that the peace treaty must be viewed as permanent.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} According to some opinion polls, a majority of Israelis believe Palestinians should have a state of their own—a major shift in attitude after the Oslo Accord—even though both [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and [[Shimon Peres]] opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, both before and after the Accord.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} At the same time, a significant portion of the Israeli public and some political leaders (including the current Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]]) express doubt over whether a peaceful, coherent state can be founded by the PLO, and call for significant re-organization, including the elimination of all terrorism, before any talk about independence.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
 ===Second Intifada===
 {{Main|Al-Aqsa Intifada}}
-The Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada started concurrent with the breakdown of talks at Camp David with Israeli Prime Minister [[Ehud Barak]]. The Intifada never ended officially, but violence hit relatively low levels during 2005. The death toll both military and civilians of the entire conflict in 2000–2004 is estimated to be 3,223 Palestinians and 950 Israelis, although this number is criticized for not differentiating between combatants and civilians.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} Members of the PLO have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}.
+The Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada started concurrent with the breakdown of talks at Camp David with Israeli Prime Minister [[Ehud Barak]]. The Intifada never ended officially, but violence hit relatively low levels during 2005. The death toll both military and civilians of the entire conflict in 2000–2004 is estimated to be 3,223 Palestinians and 950 Israelis, although this number is criticized for not differentiating between combatants and civilians.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} Members of the PLO have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}.
 ==Palestinian National Charter==
@@ Line 144: / Line 143: @@
 :'''<small>Article 10 of the Palestinian National Charter states "Commando (''Feday’ee'') action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution. It also requires the achieving of unity for the national ('wanted'') struggle among the different groupings of the Palestinian people, and between the Palestinian people and the Arab masses, so as to secure the continuation of the revolution, its escalation, and victory."</small>
-The most controversial element of text of the Charter were many clauses declaring the creation of the state of Israel "null and void", because it was created by force on Palestinian soil.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} This is usually interpreted as calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+The most controversial element of text of the Charter were many clauses declaring the creation of the state of Israel "null and void", because it was created by force on Palestinian soil.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} This is usually interpreted as calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
-In letters exchanged between Arafat and Rabin in conjunction with the 1993 [[Oslo Accords]], Arafat agreed that those clauses would be removed.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} On 24 April 1996, the Palestine National Council held a meeting in camera, after which it was announced that the Council had voted to nullify or amend all such clauses, and called for a new text to be produced.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=U3En3Uz5ACQC&pg=PA522&dq=%22+24+April+1996,+the+Palestine+National+Council&hl=en&ei=Rt91Tq_vFIrh0QH04OGoDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22%2024%20April%201996%2C%20the%20Palestine%20National%20Council&f=false Historical dictionary of terrorism] by Sean Anderson, Stephen Sloan, Scarecrow Press, 2009</ref> At the time, Israeli political figures and academics expressed doubt that this is what had actually taken place, and continued to claim that controversial clauses were still in force.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+In letters exchanged between Arafat and Rabin in conjunction with the 1993 [[Oslo Accords]], Arafat agreed that those clauses would be removed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} On 24 April 1996, the Palestine National Council held a meeting in camera, after which it was announced that the Council had voted to nullify or amend all such clauses, and called for a new text to be produced.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=U3En3Uz5ACQC&pg=PA522&dq=%22+24+April+1996,+the+Palestine+National+Council&hl=en&ei=Rt91Tq_vFIrh0QH04OGoDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22%2024%20April%201996%2C%20the%20Palestine%20National%20Council&f=false Historical dictionary of terrorism] by Sean Anderson, Stephen Sloan, Scarecrow Press, 2009</ref> At the time, Israeli political figures and academics expressed doubt that this is what had actually taken place, and continued to claim that controversial clauses were still in force.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
-A letter from Arafat to US President [[Bill Clinton]] in 1998 listed the clauses concerned, and a meeting of the Palestine Central Committee approved that list.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} To remove all doubt, the vote this time was held in a public meeting of PLO, PNC and PCC members which was televised worldwide, and in the presence of Bill Clinton who traveled to the Gaza Strip for that purpose. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted this as the promised nullification{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}. He later wrote, "While the PLO repeatedly committed itself to amend the charter..., no changes have been made despite occasional claims to the contrary."<ref>Netanyahu, Benjamin. A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations.  Grand Central Publishing. 2002. Page 203.</ref>
+A letter from Arafat to US President [[Bill Clinton]] in 1998 listed the clauses concerned, and a meeting of the Palestine Central Committee approved that list.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} To remove all doubt, the vote this time was held in a public meeting of PLO, PNC and PCC members which was televised worldwide, and in the presence of Bill Clinton who traveled to the Gaza Strip for that purpose. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted this as the promised nullification{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}. He later wrote, "While the PLO repeatedly committed itself to amend the charter..., no changes have been made despite occasional claims to the contrary."<ref>Netanyahu, Benjamin. A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations.  Grand Central Publishing. 2002. Page 203.</ref>
-However, a new text of the Charter has not been produced, and this is the source of a continuing controversy.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} Critics of the Palestinian organizations claim that failure proves the insincerity of the clause nullifications.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} One of several Palestinian responses is that the proper replacement of the Charter will be the constitution of the forthcoming state of Palestine.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} The published draft constitution states that the territory of Palestine "is an indivisible unit based upon its borders on 4 June 1967" – which clearly implies an acceptance of Israel's existence in its 1967 borders.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
+However, a new text of the Charter has not been produced, and this is the source of a continuing controversy.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} Critics of the Palestinian organizations claim that failure proves the insincerity of the clause nullifications.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} One of several Palestinian responses is that the proper replacement of the Charter will be the constitution of the forthcoming state of Palestine.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} The published draft constitution states that the territory of Palestine "is an indivisible unit based upon its borders on 4 June 1967" – which clearly implies an acceptance of Israel's existence in its 1967 borders.{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}}
 ==Status at the United Nations==
 {{further|State of Palestine|International recognition of the State of Palestine|List of current Permanent Representatives to the United Nations#United Nations General Assembly observers|Category:Permanent Observers of Palestine to the United Nations}}
-The United Nations General Assembly recognized the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people" in Resolution 3210 and Resolution 3236, and granted the PLO observer status on 22 November 1974 in Resolution 3237. On 12 January 1976 the [[UN Security Council]] voted 11–1 with 3 abstentions to allow the Palestinian Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate without voting rights, a privilege usually restricted to UN member states. It was admitted as a full member of the [[United Nations Regional Groups|Asia group]] on 2 April 1986.<ref>{{cite web|author=Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations|title=Status of Palestine at the United Nations|url=http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/11550;jsessionid=DB37131DB27A165B6398469FFE4DB1FC|publisher=United Nations|accessdate=9 December 2010}}: "On 2 April 1986, the Asian Group of the U.N. decided to accept the PLO as a full member."</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations Conference on Trade and Development|title=Government structures|url= http://www.unctad.org/templates/Page.asp?intItemID=4966&lang=1|publisher=United Nations|year=2002|accessdate=5 December 2010}}: "At present, the PLO is a full member of the Asian Group of the United Nations".</ref><ref>United Nations General Assembly [http://www.undemocracy.com/A-RES-52-250.pdf Resolution 52/250: Participation of Palestine in the work of the United Nations] (1998): "Palestine enjoys full membership in the Group of Asian States".</ref>
+The United Nations General Assembly recognized the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people" in Resolution 3210 and Resolution 3236, and granted the PLO observer status on 22 November 1974 in Resolution 3237. On 12 January 1976 the UN Security Council voted 11–1 with 3 abstentions to allow the Palestinian Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate without voting rights, a privilege usually restricted to UN member states. It was admitted as a full member of the [[United Nations Regional Groups|Asia group]] on 2 April 1986.<ref>{{cite web|author=Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations|title=Status of Palestine at the United Nations|url=http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/11550;jsessionid=DB37131DB27A165B6398469FFE4DB1FC|publisher=United Nations|accessdate=9 December 2010}}: "On 2 April 1986, the Asian Group of the U.N. decided to accept the PLO as a full member."</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations Conference on Trade and Development|title=Government structures|url= http://www.unctad.org/templates/Page.asp?intItemID=4966&lang=1|publisher=United Nations|year=2002|accessdate=5 December 2010}}: "At present, the PLO is a full member of the Asian Group of the United Nations".</ref><ref>United Nations General Assembly [http://www.undemocracy.com/A-RES-52-250.pdf Resolution 52/250: Participation of Palestine in the work of the United Nations] (1998): "Palestine enjoys full membership in the Group of Asian States".</ref>
-After the [[Palestinian Declaration of Independence]] the PLO's representation was renamed Palestine.<ref name="Unispal.un.org">{{cite web|url=http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25 | author = [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]] | title=United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177 |publisher=[[United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine|UN Information System on the Question of Palestine]] |date= 9 December 1988 |accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> On 7 July 1998, this status was extended to allow participation in General Assembly debates, though not in voting.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=DH0DpqrRjbMC&pg=PA26&dq=%22July+7,+1998%22+palestine&hl=en&ei=R911TpK8IczegQeWrITXDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22July%207%2C%201998%22%20palestine&f=false The law and practice of the United Nations by Benedetto Conforti]</ref>
+After the [[Palestinian Declaration of Independence]] the PLO's representation was renamed Palestine.<ref name="Unispal.un.org">{{cite web|url=http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25 | author = UN General Assembly | title=United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177 |publisher=[[United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine|UN Information System on the Question of Palestine]] |date= 9 December 1988 |accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> On 7 July 1998, this status was extended to allow participation in General Assembly debates, though not in voting.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=DH0DpqrRjbMC&pg=PA26&dq=%22July+7,+1998%22+palestine&hl=en&ei=R911TpK8IczegQeWrITXDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22July%207%2C%201998%22%20palestine&f=false The law and practice of the United Nations by Benedetto Conforti]</ref>
 By September 2012, with their application for full membership stalled due to the inability of Security Council members to 'make a unanimous recommendation', the Palestine Authority had decided to pursue an upgrade in status from "observer entity" to  [[United Nations General Assembly observers#Non-member states|"non-member observer state"]]. On 27 November it was announced that the appeal had been officially made, and would be put to a vote in the General Assembly on November 29, where their status upgrade was expected to be supported by a majority of states. In addition to granting Palestine "non-member observer state status", the draft resolution "expresses the hope that the Security Council will consider favourably the application submitted on 23 September 2011 by the State of Palestine for admission to full membership in the United Nations, endorses the two state solution based on the pre-1967 borders, and stresses the need for an immediate resumption of negotiations between the two parties."
-On Thursday, 29 November 2012, In a 138-9 vote (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations.<ref name="unispal1">{{cite web|url=http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/181c72112f4d0e0685257ac500515c6c?OpenDocument |title=A/67/L.28 of 26 November 2012 and A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012|publisher=Unispal.un.org |date= |accessdate=2012-12-02}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera.com">[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/01/2013186722389860.html Palestine: What is in a name (change)? - Inside Story]. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> The new status equates Palestine's with that of the [[Holy See]].The change in status was described by ''[[The Independent]]'' as "[[de facto]] recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine".<ref name="UNStatehoodBid2012accepted">{{cite news |title=Israel defies UN after vote on Palestine with plans for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-un-after-vote-on-palestine-with-plans-for-3000-new-homes-in-the-west-bank-8372494.html|publisher=The Independent|date=1 December 2012}}</ref>
+On Thursday, 29 November 2012, In a 138-9 vote (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations.<ref name="unispal1">{{cite web|url=http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/181c72112f4d0e0685257ac500515c6c?OpenDocument |title=A/67/L.28 of 26 November 2012 and A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012|publisher=Unispal.un.org |date= |accessdate=2012-12-02}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera.com">[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/01/2013186722389860.html Palestine: What is in a name (change)? - Inside Story]. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> The new status equates Palestine's with that of the Holy See.The change in status was described by ''The Independent'' as "de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine".<ref name="UNStatehoodBid2012accepted">{{cite news |title=Israel defies UN after vote on Palestine with plans for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-un-after-vote-on-palestine-with-plans-for-3000-new-homes-in-the-west-bank-8372494.html|publisher=The Independent|date=1 December 2012}}</ref>
-The vote was a historic benchmark for the [[sovereignity|sovereign]] [[State of Palestine]] and its citizens, whilst it was a diplomatic setback for Israel and the United States. Status as an observer state in the UN will allow the State of Palestine to join treaties and [[List of specialized agencies of the United Nations|specialised UN agencies]], such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation,<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/state-of-palestine_n_2425682.html?utm_hp_ref=world Abbas has not taken practical steps toward seeking membership for Palestine in UN agencies, something made possible by the November vote]</ref> the Law of the Seas Treaty and the International Criminal Court. It shall permit Palestine to claim legal rights over its territorial waters and air space as a sovereign state recognised by the UN. It shall also provide the citizens of [[Palestinian territories|Palestine]] with the right to sue for control of the territory that is rightfully theirs in the International Court of Justice and with the legal right to bring war-crimes charges, mainly those relating to Israel's unlawful occupation of [[the State of Palestine]], against Israel in the [[International Criminal Court]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians’ UN upgrade to nonmember observer state: Struggles ahead over possible powers |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-un-upgrade-to-nonmember-observer-state-struggles-ahead-over-possible-powers/2012/11/29/8f3c3f78-3a59-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html|publisher=Washington Post|date=30 November 2012}}</ref>
+The vote was a historic benchmark for the [[sovereignity|sovereign]] [[State of Palestine]] and its citizens, whilst it was a diplomatic setback for Israel and the United States. Status as an observer state in the UN will allow the State of Palestine to join treaties and [[List of specialized agencies of the United Nations|specialised UN agencies]], such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation,<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/state-of-palestine_n_2425682.html?utm_hp_ref=world Abbas has not taken practical steps toward seeking membership for Palestine in UN agencies, something made possible by the November vote]</ref> the Law of the Seas Treaty and the International Criminal Court. It shall permit Palestine to claim legal rights over its territorial waters and air space as a sovereign state recognised by the UN. It shall also provide the citizens of Palestine with the right to sue for control of the territory that is rightfully theirs in the International Court of Justice and with the legal right to bring war-crimes charges, mainly those relating to Israel's unlawful occupation of [[the State of Palestine]], against Israel in the International Criminal Court.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians’ UN upgrade to nonmember observer state: Struggles ahead over possible powers |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-un-upgrade-to-nonmember-observer-state-struggles-ahead-over-possible-powers/2012/11/29/8f3c3f78-3a59-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html|publisher=Washington Post|date=30 November 2012}}</ref>
-The UN has authorised Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as 'The Permanent Observer Mission of the '''State of''' Palestine to the United Nations',<ref>[http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/ Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations - State of Palestine Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations]. Un.int. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> and Palestine has started to re-title its name accordingly on postal stamps, official documents and passports,<ref name="aljazeera.com"/><ref>Khoury, Jack. (2013-01-05) [http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/palestinian-authority-officially-changes-name-to-state-of-palestine.premium-1.492065 Palestinian Authority officially changes name to 'State of Palestine' Israel News Broadcast]. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> whilst it has instructed its diplomats to officially represent '[[The State of Palestine]]', as opposed to the '[[Palestine National Authority]]'.<ref name="aljazeera.com"/> Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html|title=U.N. Adds New Name: "State of Palestine"|last=Gharib |first=Ali|date=2012-12-20|accessdate=2013-01-10|publisher=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref>
+The UN has authorised Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as 'The Permanent Observer Mission of the '''State of''' Palestine to the United Nations',<ref>[http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/ Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations - State of Palestine Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations]. Un.int. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> and Palestine has started to re-title its name accordingly on postal stamps, official documents and passports,<ref name="aljazeera.com"/><ref>Khoury, Jack. (2013-01-05) [http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/palestinian-authority-officially-changes-name-to-state-of-palestine.premium-1.492065 Palestinian Authority officially changes name to 'State of Palestine' Israel News Broadcast]. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> whilst it has instructed its diplomats to officially represent '[[The State of Palestine]]', as opposed to the '[[Palestine National Authority]]'.<ref name="aljazeera.com"/> Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html|title=U.N. Adds New Name: "State of Palestine"|last=Gharib |first=Ali|date=2012-12-20|accessdate=2013-01-10|publisher=The Daily Beast}}</ref>
 ==Diplomatic representation==
@@ Line 173: / Line 172: @@
 ==Recognition by Israel and the Oslo Accords==
 {{further|Palestinian views on the peace process#Yasser Arafat and the_PLO}}
-In 1993, PLO chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] recognized the [[State of Israel]] in an official letter to its prime minister, [[Yitzhak Rabin]]. In response to Arafat's letter, Israel decided to revert its stance toward the PLO and to recognize the organization as the representative of the [[Palestinian people]].<ref name="PLOletter"/><ref name="baltimoresun">{{Cite news|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-09-10/news/1993253104_1_israel-and-plo-palestinians-israeli-plo|title=At the threshold of peace Mutual recognition ends 3 decades of strife between Israel and PLO ISRAELI-PLO PEACE TALKS|accessdate=6 April 2010}}</ref> This led to the signing of the [[Oslo Accords]] in 1993.
+In 1993, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat recognized the State of Israel in an official letter to its prime minister, [[Yitzhak Rabin]]. In response to Arafat's letter, Israel decided to revert its stance toward the PLO and to recognize the organization as the representative of the Palestinian people.<ref name="PLOletter"/><ref name="baltimoresun">{{Cite news|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-09-10/news/1993253104_1_israel-and-plo-palestinians-israeli-plo|title=At the threshold of peace Mutual recognition ends 3 decades of strife between Israel and PLO ISRAELI-PLO PEACE TALKS|accessdate=6 April 2010}}</ref> This led to the signing of the [[Oslo Accords]] in 1993.
 ==Political status and actions==
@@ Line 193: / Line 192: @@
 *[[Palestinian political violence]]
 *[[Proposals for a Palestinian state]]
-*[[Palestinian territories]]
+*Palestinian territories
 *[[Palestinian Liberation Army]]
 *[[Hamas-Fatah conflict]]
@@ Line 207: / Line 206: @@
 {{Refend}}
 *Yezid Sayigh, “Struggle Within, Struggle Without: the Transformation of PLO politics since 1982,” ''International Affairs'' vol. 65, no. 2 (spring 1989) pages 247–271.
-==External links==
 ===Official sites===
@@ Line 223: / Line 220: @@
 *[http://www.un.int/palestine/PLO/docone.html PLO Political Program] Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council Cairo, 8 June 1974 published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations]
 *[http://web.archive.org/web/20080118193127/http://www.un.int/palestine/PLO/PNA1.html  Decisions and Actions related to the Palestine National Charter (1996)] published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations]
-*[http://www.palestine-un.org/plo/cc.html Unofficial Translation]{{Dead link|date=November 2013}} of the Statement by the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization 1996 document above
+*[http://www.palestine-un.org/plo/cc.html Unofficial Translation]{{Dead link|date=November 2014}} of the Statement by the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization 1996 document above
-*[http://www.mopic.gov.ps/constitution/ Draft constitution (2003)] as published by the Palestine National Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs {{Dead link|date=November 2013}}
+*[http://www.mopic.gov.ps/constitution/ Draft constitution (2003)] as published by the Palestine National Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs {{Dead link|date=November 2014}}
 *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/plocon.html Constitution of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (1968)]
@@ Line 239: / Line 236: @@
 *[http://www.palestineposterproject.org/content/palestine-liberation-organization-plo Collection of over 150 PLO posters]
-{{Palestine topics}}
+{{Wikipedia|Palestine Liberation Organization}}
 [[Category:Factions in the Lebanese Civil War]]
 [[Category:Palestine Liberation Organization|*]]