The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The Arab League established the PLO in 1964 as an
effort to control Palestinian nationalism
while appearing to champion the cause. The Arab
defeat in the 1967 war enabled younger,
more militant Palestinians to take over the PLO and
gain some independence from the Arab
regimes.
The PLO includes different
political and armed groups
with varying ideological
orientations. Yasser Arafat is
the leader of Fatah, the
largest group, and has been
PLO chairman since 1968.
The other major groups are
the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (DFLP) and, in the
occupied territories, the
Palestine Peoples Party
(PPP, formerly the
Communist Party). Despite
factional differences, the
majority of Palestinians
regard the PLO as their
representative.
In the 1960s, the PLO's primary base of operations
was Jordan. In 1970-71, fighting with the
Jordanian army drove the PLO leadership out of the
country, forcing it to relocate to Lebanon.
When the Lebanese civil war started in 1975, the
PLO became a party in the conflict. After the
Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the PLO
leadership was expelled from the country,
relocating once more to Tunisia.
Until 1993, Israel did not
acknowledge Palestinian
national rights or recognize
the Palestinians as an
independent party to the
conflict. Israel refused to
negotiate with the PLO,
arguing that it was nothing
but a terrorist organization,
and insisted on dealing only
with Jordan or other Arab
states. It rejected the
establishment of a
Palestinian state, insisting
that Palestinians should be
incorporated into the
existing Arab states. This
intransigence ended when
Israeli representatives
entered into secret
negotiations with the PLO,
which led to the Oslo
Declaration of Principles
(see below).
UN Security Council Resolution 242
After the 1967 war, the UN Security Council adopted
Resolution 242, which notes the
"inadmissability of the acquisition of territory by
force," and calls for Israeli withdrawal from
lands seized in the war and the right of all states
in the area to peaceful existence within secure
and recognized boundaries. The grammatical
construction of the French version of Resolution
242 says Israel should withdraw from "the
territories," whereas the English version of the text
calls for withdrawal from "territories." (Both
English and French are official languages of the
UN.) Israel and the United States use the English
version to argue that Israeli withdrawal from
some, but not all, the territory occupied in the
1967 war satisfies the requirements of this
resolution.
For many years the Palestinians rejected Resolution
242 because it does not acknowledge their
right to national self-determination or to return
to their homeland. It calls only for a just
settlement of the refugee problem. By calling for
recognition of every state in the area,
Resolution 242 entailed unilateral Palestinian
recognition of Israel without recognition of
Palestinian national rights.
P
____________________________________________________________
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The Arab League established the PLO in 1964 as an
effort to control Palestinian nationalism
while appearing to champion the cause. The Arab
defeat in the 1967 war enabled younger,
more militant Palestinians to take over the PLO and
gain some independence from the Arab
regimes.
The PLO includes different
political and armed groups
with varying ideological
orientations. Yasser Arafat is
the leader of Fatah, the
largest group, and has been
PLO chairman since 1968.
The other major groups are
the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (DFLP) and, in the
occupied territories, the
Palestine Peoples Party
(PPP, formerly the
Communist Party). Despite
factional differences, the
majority of Palestinians
regard the PLO as their
representative.
In the 1960s, the PLO's primary base of operations
was Jordan. In 1970-71, fighting with the
Jordanian army drove the PLO leadership out of the
country, forcing it to relocate to Lebanon.
When the Lebanese civil war started in 1975, the
PLO became a party in the conflict. After the
Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the PLO
leadership was expelled from the country,
relocating once more to Tunisia.
Until 1993, Israel did not
acknowledge Palestinian
national rights or recognize
the Palestinians as an
independent party to the
conflict. Israel refused to
negotiate with the PLO,
arguing that it was nothing
but a terrorist organization,
and insisted on dealing only
with Jordan or other Arab
states. It rejected the
establishment of a
Palestinian state, insisting
that Palestinians should be
incorporated into the
existing Arab states. This
intransigence ended when
Israeli representatives
entered into secret
negotiations with the PLO,
which led to the Oslo
Declaration of Principles
(see below).
UN Security Council Resolution 242
After the 1967 war, the UN Security Council adopted
Resolution 242, which notes the
"inadmissability of the acquisition of territory by
force," and calls for Israeli withdrawal from
lands seized in the war and the right of all states
in the area to peaceful existence within secure
and recognized boundaries. The grammatical
construction of the French version of Resolution
242 says Israel should withdraw from "the
territories," whereas the English version of the text
calls for withdrawal from "territories." (Both
English and French are official languages of the
UN.) Israel and the United States use the English
version to argue that Israeli withdrawal from
some, but not all, the territory occupied in the
1967 war satisfies the requirements of this
resolution.
For many years the Palestinians rejected Resolution
242 because it does not acknowledge their
right to national self-determination or to return
to their homeland. It calls only for a just
settlement of the refugee problem. By calling for
recognition of every state in the area,
Resolution 242 entailed unilateral Palestinian
recognition of Israel without recognition of
Palestinian national rights.
P
____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send a newsletter, share photos & files, conduct polls, organize chat events. Visit http://in/ groups.yahoo.com