PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)

Umbrella group of various Palestinian nationalist organizations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Founded in 1964 with the support of the Arab states, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has become the most important representative of the Palestinian people.

A union among different groups with diverse ideologies and priorities, the PLO has undergone extensive transformations over time. One of the most significant of these was the PLO's official 1993 acceptance of the right of Israel to exist as a nation, established by decree in 1948. Until his death in 2004, the one constant within the PLO had been its chairman, Yasir Arafat, leader and founder of Fatah, the most powerful group within the PLO. In 1994, following extensive negotiations with Israel, Arafat formed the Palestinian Authority, which was slated to become the legitimate government of a future independent Palestinian state.

Consolidation

The establishment of the PLO in 1964 was a long-awaited effort on the part of some of the most influential Palestinian nationalist groups to pool their resources and political power with the aim of fighting and destroying the nation of Israel. Three years after the PLO's inception, in 1967, Israel fought the successful Six-Day War against the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait, leaving the Jewish state in control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, two areas heavily populated by Palestinians.

At that time, events that brought the PLO to the forefront of the Middle Eastern conflict began to rapidly succeed each other. In July 1968, the PLO drafted its official charter, which called for the elimination of Israel from the Middle East and declared that the only way to establish an independent Palestinian state was through armed struggle. The same year, a relatively powerful guerrilla movement called Fatah joined the PLO. Its leader, Yasir Arafat, quickly came to dominate the organization, acquiring in 1969 the position of chairman of the PLO's executive committee. Meanwhile, the various organizations making up the PLO stepped up their guerrilla activities against the Jewish state.

International Recognition

In addition to fighting Israel, the PLO soon found itself in conflict not only with Israel, but also with Jordan, which had for years hosted the organization's command center. Feeling threatened by the increasing influence of Palestinians in Jordan's internal affairs, King Hussein of Jordan forced the PLO out of the country. The organization relocated to Lebanon, from where it continued to stage attacks against Israel.

By the early 1970s, the PLO was hard at work acquiring much-needed international legitimization. Its efforts were rewarded in 1974, when the United Nations [Page 581]officially recognized the organization and granted it observer status. The same year, the Arab countries proclaimed the PLO to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Successful on the international scene, the PLO now has to face an offensive by its opponent, Israel, which in 1982 invaded Lebanon with the stated aim of annihilating the PLO guerrillas.

Once again, the PLO went on the move, relocating its headquarters to Tunisia. Within five years, however, the world's attention focused on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where hundreds of Palestinian youth clashed with Israeli troops in an uprising that came to be known as the first intifada (an Arabic word meaning “shaking off”). Although the PLO was not initially the moving force behind the events, it quickly moved to take control of (and credit for) the Palestinian revolt.

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