Hammam Chott is a town and commune in the Ben Arous Governorate , Tunisia . It is located 20 kilometers from the capital, Tunis , in the southern suburbs. It is a seaside resort town.
81-726: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had its headquarters in Hammam Chott before an Israeli bombing attack in 1985. On 1 October 1985, the PLO headquarters in Hammam Chott was bombed and destroyed by the Israeli Air Force in Operation Wooden Leg . Chott in Arabic means "beach" which is appropriate due to Hammam Chott's location on the Gulf of Tunis. This Tunisia location article
162-629: A two-state settlement on the pre-1967 borders. But the Rejectionist Front denounced the calls for diplomacy, and a diplomatic solution was vetoed by the United States. 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
243-626: A 13-member political bureau , including notably Majida Al-Masri , Taysir Khalid and Qais Abd al-Karim . The DFLP is primarily active among Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon , with a smaller presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its Jordan branch has been converted into a separate political party, the Jordanian Democratic People's Party (JDPP or Hashd), and the DFLP is no longer active in
324-664: A decree suspending the PLC and some sections of the Palestinian Basic Law , and appointed Salam Fayyad as prime minister. The PLO remains the official representative of the State of Palestine at the UN . On 4 February 1969, Fatah founder, Arafat, was elected Chairman of the PLO in Cairo . Since, Fatah has been the dominant factor within the PLO, which still continues in 2015. Under pressure from
405-549: A group of Palestinian lawyers, jurists and legal scholars, due to lack of elections. They questioned the PLO's legitimacy to alter the status and role of the Organization in respect of their status within the UN. They demanded immediate and direct elections to the Palestine National Council to ″activate representative PLO institutions in order to preserve, consolidate, and strengthen the effective legal representation of
486-581: A number of different factions. The DPFLP were joined by other sections of the Palestinian left and became the third-largest faction in the PLO. DPFLP leader Nayef Hawatmeh , a Jordanian Christian , was characterized as a Maoist by his opponents in the PDFLP, who satirically referred to him as "Nayef Zedong ". As a Marxist-Leninist organization, the DPFLP initially advocated for a proletarian revolution to overthrow
567-532: 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. From 1967 to September 1970 the PLO, with passive support from Jordan, fought a war of attrition with Israel. During this time,
648-462: 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 conflict into involvement of all Lebanese factions – whether Sunni , Shia , Druze , and Christians . In 1982, the PLO relocated to Tunis , Tunisia after it was driven out of Lebanon by Israel during
729-563: 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
810-591: A split within the organization. Hawatmeh's faction refused to participate in the negotiations, joining with the PFLP in order to form an anti-Arafat front organization in the Syrian capital of Damascus , where they challenged Arafat for leadership of the PLO. Rabbo ultimately left the DFLP in 1993, establishing the Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA) and going on to participate in the 2000 Camp David Summit . By
891-480: A time-span from February to August 2007. The congress was divided into three parallel circles: West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Palestinian exiles. The congress elected a Central Committee , with 81 full members and 21 alternate members. Subsequently, after the closure of the 5th national general congress, the Central Committee re-elected Hawatmeh as Secretary-General of the DFLP. The Central Committee also elected
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#1732854868966972-463: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ; Arabic : منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the Palestinian territories and
1053-652: Is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and Maoist organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front , or al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya ( الجبهة الديموقراطية ). It is a member organization of the Palestine Liberation Organization , the Alliance of Palestinian Forces and the Democratic Alliance List . The group was founded in 1969 by Nayef Hawatmeh , splitting from
1134-466: Is criticized for not differentiating between combatants and civilians. Members of the PLO have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada. The PLO has been sued in the United States by families of those killed or injured in attacks by Palestinians. One lawsuit was settled prior to going to trial. The other went to trial. The PLO was found liable for
1215-543: Is still the recognized representative of the Palestinian people, and a reactivation of the PLO's constitutional supremacy over the PNA in connection with power struggles in Palestinian society is a distinct possibility. In February 2023, the DFLP launched a party in Lebanon for the Palestinian refugees still living there, together with the Lebanese Communist Party . The DFLP held its 5th national general congress during
1296-579: Is the belief that Zionists had unjustly expelled the Palestinians from Palestine and established a Jewish state in place under the pretext of having historic and Jewish ties with Palestine. The PLO demanded that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homes. This is expressed in the National Covenant: Article 2 of the Charter states that ″Palestine, with the boundaries it had during
1377-499: The 1982 Lebanon War . Following massive raids by Israeli forces in Beirut, it is estimated that 8,000 PLO fighters evacuated the city and dispersed. 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
1458-757: The Arab League initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people. The Palestinian National Council convened in Jerusalem on 28 May 1964. After concluding the meeting, the PLO was founded on 2 June 1964. Its stated "complementary goals" were Arab unity and the liberation of Palestine . The PLO began their militancy campaign from its inception with an attack on Israel's National Water Carrier in January 1965. The group used guerrilla tactics to attack Israel from their bases in Jordan (which then included
1539-557: The British mandate , is an indivisible territorial unit″, meaning that there is no place for a Jewish state. This article was adapted in 1996 to meet the Oslo Accords. Article 20 states: ″The Balfour Declaration , the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with
1620-536: The Cairo Agreement led the PLO to establish itself in Lebanon. 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
1701-618: The Israeli–Palestinian peace process . Supported by Egypt and Syria , the moderates of the PLO together represented over 80% of the Palestinian fedayeen and occupied a majority on the Palestinian National Council (PNC). The DFLP, Fatah and As-Sa'iqa submitted a proposal to the PNC that classified their goals: their strategic goal was the eventual independence of Palestine from "Zionist imperialism"; while their immediate goal
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#17328548689661782-618: The Karantina massacre . The PLO and Lebanese National Movement attacked the Christian town of Damour , killing 684 civilians and forcing the remainder of the town's population to flee. In 1976 Syria joined the war by invading Lebanon, beginning 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
1863-723: The Palestinian refugee camps . The DFLP's leader, Nayif Hawatmeh lives in Syria. It provided military training for Marxist–Leninist militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in 1980 and the Sandinistas . The DFLP is not listed as a terrorist organization by the United States government or the United Nations . It was dropped from the U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 1999, "primarily because of
1944-598: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). It maintains a paramilitary wing, the National Resistance Brigades . The DFLP's declared goal is to "create a people's democratic Palestine , where Arabs and Jews would live without discrimination, a state without classes and national oppression, a state which allows Arabs and Jews to develop their national culture." One of the attacks for which
2025-629: The September 11 attacks in the United States on behalf of the DFLP; but the DFLP itself denied the accusations and formally condemned the attacks. On 25 August 2007, Palestinian militants from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and DFLP attempted to enter the Israeli border town of Netiv HaAsara from Gaza. The militants used a ladder to scale the Israel-Gaza border and were killed by
2106-724: The United States Department of State to drop the DFLP from its list of designated terrorist groups . After a period of relative inactivity during the 1990s, the DFLP renewed armed attacks against the IDF during the Second Intifada . They carried out a number of shooting attacks against Israeli targets, such as the 25 August 2001 attack on a military base in Gaza that killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded seven others. On 11 September 2001, an anonymous caller claimed responsibility for
2187-502: 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. 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
2268-451: The West Bank ), Lebanon , Egypt ( Gaza Strip ), and Syria . The most notable of what were considered terrorist acts committed by member organizations of the PLO were in the 1970s. 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
2349-645: The diaspora . It is currently represented by the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh . Founded in 1964, it initially sought to establish an Arab state over the entire territory of the former Mandatory Palestine , advocating the elimination of Israel . Mediated talks between the Israeli government and the PLO in 1993 (the Oslo I Accord) resulted in the PLO recognizing Israel's legitimacy and accepting United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 , which mandated Israel's withdrawal from
2430-453: The "liberation of Palestine". The Palestinian National Charter describes the ideology of the PLO. A constitution, named "Fundamental Law", was adopted, which dictates the inner structure of the organization and the representation of the Palestinian people. A draft Constitution was written in 1963, to rule the PLO until free general elections among all the Palestinians in all the countries in which they resided could be held. The Constitution
2511-646: The 2005 PA municipal elections. In the 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council , the Front formed a joint list called al-Badeel (The Alternative) with Palestine Democratic Union (FIDA), the Palestinian People's Party and independents. The list was led by the historic DFLP leader Qais Abd al-Karim (Abu Leila). It received 2.8% of the popular vote and won two of the council's 132 seats. The DFLP retains important influence within
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2592-569: The 4.6 million Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) are Palestinian Christian . Under President Arafat, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority adopted the 2003 Amended Basic Law, which stipulates Islam as the sole official religion in Palestine and the principles of Islamic sharia as a principal source of legislation. The draft Constitution contains the same provisions. The draft Constitution
2673-407: The DFLP became increasingly critical of Fatah for its continued participation in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process . This caused a rise in internal tensions, as one of the DFLP's leaders Yasser Abed Rabbo expressed support for Yasser Arafat 's engagement in the peace process. In 1991, Rabbo was elected as the DFLP's Secretary General and brought the organization into the peace process, causing
2754-515: The DFLP expressed support for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine on territory controlled by the PLO. By the outbreak of the Southern Lebanon conflict in the mid-1980s, the DFLP stopped carrying out terrorist attacks against civilian targets and instead started conducting border raids against Israeli military positions in Southern Lebanon . During the First Intifada ,
2835-604: The DFLP is best known is the 1974 Ma'alot massacre in which 25 schoolchildren and teachers were killed. Although the National Resistance Brigades have fighters based in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip , these fighters have been engaged in relatively few military operations since the First Intifada , until the ongoing Israel-Hamas war (2023–present) which has seen the DFLP fight alongside Hamas and other allied Palestinian factions . The Popular Front for
2916-497: 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. Arafat increasingly called for diplomacy, perhaps best symbolized by his Ten Point Program and his support for a UN Security Council resolution proposed in 1976 calling for
2997-567: The IDF alongside Hamas and other allied Palestinian factions in subsequent battles throughout the Gaza Strip. The DFLP ran a candidate, Taysir Khalid , in the Palestinian Authority presidential election in 2005. He gained 3.35% of the vote. The party had initially participated in discussions with the PFLP and the Palestinian People's Party on running a joint left-wing candidate, but these were unsuccessful. It did not win any seats in
3078-564: The Israel Defense Forces. The DFLP's armed wing, the National Resistance Brigades , confirmed their participation in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel through their military spokesman Abu Khaled. On 7 October, during the attack on Israel, they claimed to have lost three fighters in combat with the IDF, and said on 8 October that they were engaged with Israeli forces in Kfar Aza , Be'eri , and Kissufim . The DFLP has since fought
3159-510: The Israelis could meet the Palestinian guerrillas was on the field of battle." Until 1993, the only promoted option was armed struggle. From the signing of the Oslo Accords, negotiation and diplomacy became the only official policy. In April 1996, a large number of articles, which were inconsistent with the Oslo Accords , were wholly or partially nullified. At the core of the PLO's ideology
3240-554: 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 struggle against Zionism or Israeli occupation, using methods which included direct clashing and guerrilla warfare against Israel. After Black September,
3321-433: The Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was established by George Habash in 1967, in the immediate aftermath of the Six-Day War . The PFLP was a Marxist-Leninist , Palestinian nationalist and Pan-Arabist organization; it advocated the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a secular socialist state in Palestine. By 1968, the PFLP had joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), becoming
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3402-403: 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 crisis. In 1972, the Black September Organization carried out the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes. In 1974, members of the DFLP seized
3483-416: The Oslo Accords. Although many in the PLO opposed the Oslo Agreements, the executive committee and the Central Council approved the Accords. It marked the beginning of the PLO's decline, as the PA came to replace the PLO as the prime Palestinian political institution. Political factions within the PLO that had opposed the Oslo process were marginalized. The PLO managed to overcome the separation by uniting
3564-415: 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. 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
3645-427: The PLC , held in the Territories in 2006, with Hamas as the big winner while not even a member of the PLO, "underlined the clear lack of a popular mandate by the PLO leadership", according to PASSIA . Individual elected members of the PLC representing Hamas, however, are automatically members of the PNC. The representative status of the PLO has often been challenged in the past. It was for example doubted in 2011 by
3726-455: The PLC. The CC functions as an intermediary body between the PNC and the EC. The CC makes policy decisions when PNC is not in session, acting as a link between the PNC and the PLO-EC. The CC is elected by the PNC and chaired by the PNC speaker. The PNC serves as the parliament for all Palestinians inside and outside of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. The PLO is governed internally by its "Fundamental Law", which describes
3807-550: The PLO changed significantly. In 1968, the Charter was replaced by a comprehensively revised version. For the first time, the PLO called for the establishment of a Palestinian state (to replace Israel) in which Christians, Muslims and Jews would have equal rights, thereby tacitly accepting Jewish presence in Palestine. The goal was akin to forcing regime change in Israel, as opposed to a drastic redrawing of borders. The Palestinian National Council also insisted upon greater independence from Arab governments. In 1974, PLO accepted
3888-411: 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, including Karameh , withdrawing only under Jordanian military pressure. This conflict culminated in Jordan's expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon in July 1971. The PLO suffered a major reversal with
3969-426: The PNC, nor for the EC, the PCC or the President of the State of Palestine . The executive committee has formally 18 members, including its chairman, but in past years many vacant seats in the Executive remained empty. Moreover, Hamas , the largest representative of the inhabitants of the Palestinian Territories alongside Fatah , is not represented in the PLO at all. The results of the last parliamentary elections for
4050-417: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was traditionally the third-largest group within the PLO, after Fatah and the PFLP, and since no new elections have been held to the PNC or the Executive Committee since 1988, the DFLP still commands important sectors within the organization. The PLO's role has admittedly diminished in later years, in favor of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), but it
4131-407: The Palestinian people as a whole″, before changing the status within the UN. The 1993–1995 Oslo Accords deliberately detached the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories from the PLO and the Palestinians in exile by creating a Palestinian Authority (PA) for the Territories. A separate parliament and government were established. Mahmoud Abbas was one of the architects of
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#17328548689664212-401: The State of Israel and establish a " popular democratic state " along bi-national lines . During the 1970s the DPFLP carried out a number of attacks, both against the Israel Defense Forces and against civilians. These attacks consisted of bombings, grenade attacks and kidnappings, the latter often carried out in order to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Israel. The group's largest attack
4293-415: The West Bank and Gaza Strip saw Arafat as their best hope for a resolution to the conflict. 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. Abu Nidal , a sworn enemy of the PLO since 1974, assassinated the PLO's diplomatic envoy to the European Economic Community , which in
4374-468: The area can live in security"), while Israel recognized the PLO as a legitimate authority representing the Palestinian people. Despite the Israel–PLO Letters of Mutual Recognition (1993), in which PLO leader Yasser Arafat renounced "terrorism and other acts of violence" against Israel, the PLO continued to engage in militant activities, particularly during the Second Intifada (see next subsection). The Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada started concurrently with
4455-399: The beginning, the PLO was designed as a government in exile, with a parliament, the Palestine National Council (PNC), chosen by the Palestinian people, as the highest authority in the PLO, and an executive government (EC), elected by the PNC. In practice, however, the organization was rather a hierarchic one with a military-like character, needed for its function as a liberation organization,
4536-408: The breakdown of July 2000 Camp David talks between Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak . The Intifada never ended officially, but violence hit relatively low levels during 2005. The death toll, including both military personnel and civilians, of the entire conflict in 2000–2004 is estimated to be 3,223 Palestinians and 950 Israelis, although this number
4617-498: The chief judge and prosecutor, making a mockery of the Palestinian judicial system. There appeared reports of widespread corruption and nepotism within the Palestinian Authority. Only Hamas-ruled Gaza has a more or less functioning parliament. Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( DFLP ; Arabic : الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين , romanized : el-Jabha ed-Dīmūqrāṭiyya li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn )
4698-424: The creation of a "national authority" in the West Bank and Gaza as a first step towards liberating Palestine. This tacit recognition of Israel caused the Rejectionist Front to break away. In 1976, PLO accepted an "independent state" in the West Bank and Gaza, which was widely interpreted as accepting Israel's permanent existence. Shortly after that, the PLO established contacts with the Israeli left. PLO's proposal
4779-408: The death and injuries of US citizens in a number of terrorist attacks in Israel from 2001 to 2004 and ordered to pay a judgment of $ 655.5 million. The verdict was overturned on appeal for a lack of US federal jurisdiction over actions committed overseas. The ideology of the PLO was formulated in the founding year, 1964, in the Palestinian National Covenant . After the 1967 war , the ideology of
4860-533: The eyes of Israeli hard-liners, "the Palestinians posed a greater challenge to Israel as a peacemaking organization than as a military one". After the appointment of Ariel Sharon to the post of Minister of Defense 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. In 1982, after an attack on
4941-450: The facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong″. This article was nullified in 1996. Article 3 reads: ″The Palestinian Arab people possess the legal right to their homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving
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#17328548689665022-400: The international community led by Israel and US, and from inside his own party Fatah, Arafat partially transferred some of his strongly centralized power in 2003, causing strong tensions within the Palestinian leadership. Arafat appointed Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister, but this resulted in disputes about the transfer of tasks and responsibilities. Abbas was strongly supported by the US and
5103-401: The international community, because he was supposed to be more willing to give far-reaching concessions to Israel. While Arafat had retained most of his power and a power struggle within Fatah continued, the leadership was criticised for corruption and nepotism. After Arafat's death , Abbas increasingly gained exclusive powers within both PLO and PA as well as in Fatah, until he had acquired
5184-432: The liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and entirely of their own accord and will″. The PLO and its dominating faction, Fatah, are often contrasted with more religious-orientated factions like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). All, however, represent a predominantly Muslim population. Practically the whole population of the Territories is Muslim, mostly Sunni . Around 50,000 (c. 1%) of
5265-473: The members of the PNC are appointed by the executive committee. The document further states that "the PNC represents all sectors of the Palestinian community worldwide, including numerous organizations of the resistance movement, political parties, popular organizations and independent personalities and figures from all sectors of life, including intellectuals, religious leaders and businessmen". The PLO has published various newspapers and magazines first of which
5346-440: The occupied territories, while Israel recognized the PLO as a legitimate authority representing the Palestinian people. Despite the Israel–PLO Letters of Mutual Recognition (1993), in which PLO leader Yasser Arafat renounced violence against Israel, the PLO engaged in militant activities during the Second Intifada (2000–2005). On 29 October 2018, the PLO Central Council suspended the Palestinian recognition of Israel . As
5427-499: The officially recognized government of the de jure State of Palestine , it has enjoyed United Nations observer status since 1974. Prior to the Oslo Accords , the PLO's militant wings engaged in acts of violence against both the Israeli military and civilians, within Israel and abroad. The United States designated it as a terrorist group in 1987, though a presidential waiver has permitted American–PLO contact since 1988. At its first summit meeting in Cairo in 1964,
5508-425: The organization's second-largest member. The PFLP quickly developed a reputation as a violent terrorist group, launching a series of international terrorist attacks in order to draw attention to the situation in Palestine. The Democratic Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DPFLP) was established in 1969, when ideological and personal conflicts broke out within the PFLP , resulting in it fragmenting into
5589-664: The organization. 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
5670-407: The political arena there. The DFLP mainly attracts Palestinians with a more socially liberal and secular lifestyle, as well as Palestinian Christians , primarily in cities like Nablus and Bethlehem . The party publishes a weekly newspaper in several Arab countries, al-Hurriya (Liberty). The DFLP is believed to receive limited financial and military aid from Syria, where it is active in
5751-455: The power in PLO and PA in one individual, Yasser Arafat . In 2002, Arafat held the functions of Chairman of the PLO/Executive Committee; Chairman of Fatah , the dominating faction within the PLO; as well as President of the Palestinian National Authority . He also controlled the Palestinian National Security Forces . Only during the Hamas -led PA Government in 2006–2007 did the PLO resurface. After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, Abbas issued
5832-533: The powers and the relations between the organs of the PLO. Ahmad Shukeiri was the first Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1964 to 1967. In 1967, he was replaced by Yahia Hammuda. Yasser Arafat occupied the position from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen). According to an internal PLO document, the PNC continues to act if elections are not possible. In absence of elections, most of
5913-409: The same power as was previously held by Arafat. Abbas is criticized for his autocratic rule and refusal to share powers and plans with other Palestinians. In the absence of a functioning parliament and Executive, he even began to issue his own laws. Senior representative of Abbas' Fatah faction and former Fatah minister of prisoner affairs, Sufian Abu Zaida , complained that Abbas appointed himself as
5994-594: The time of the Oslo Accords , the dissolution of the Soviet Union had resulted in a loss of funding for the DFLP. The DFLP thus lost its influence over the Palestinian independence movement, while Islamist groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rose to prominence. In 1999, the DFLP reconciled with Fatah and considered recognising the State of Israel in the event of a peace treaty, which convinced
6075-458: Was Falastinuna and pamphlets. During the late 1970s its publications increased consisting of twenty-nine dailies, eighteen weeklies, thirteen biweeklies, sixty-two monthlies, sixteen quarterlies, and twenty-one annuals. Some of them are Falastin Al Thawra and Shu'un Filastiniyya . Its official news agency is Wafa . As of 2015, there have not been elections for many years, neither for
6156-467: Was formulated by a Constitutional Committee, established by Arafat in 1999 and endorsed by the PLO. 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. It's formally an umbrella organization that includes "numerous organizations of the resistance movement, political parties, and popular organizations." From
6237-462: Was revised in 1968. The Palestinian National Council has 740 members and the Executive Committee or ExCo has 18 members. The Palestinian Central Council or CC or PCC, established by the PNC in 1973, is the second leading body of the PLO. The CC consists of 124 members from the PLO Executive Committee, PNC, PLC and other Palestinian organizations. The EC includes 15 representatives of
6318-446: Was similar to the one given by Egyptian Prime Minister Ismail Fahmy , in 1976, where he promised Israel peace on the basis of withdrawing to the 1967 borders, creation of State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza, and a nuclear weapons free Middle East. The PNC also authorized Palestinian representatives to meet Israeli officials at an Arab-Israeli peace conference. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin responded, "the only place
6399-504: Was the Ma'alot massacre of 1974, an attack on an Israeli school in which 27 people were killed. Following the Yom Kippur War , the DPFLP changed its name to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and started moderating its position towards support for a two-state solution . Along with Fatah and As-Sa'iqa , the DFLP became part of the moderate faction of the PLO, which advocated for Palestinian participation in
6480-500: Was the beginning of the end. Mediated talks between the Israeli government and the PLO in 1993 (the Oslo I Accord ) resulted in the PLO recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace and accepting United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 ("inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in which every State in
6561-402: Was to force the State of Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank , in order to secure self-determination for the Palestinian people in those territories. The PNC adopted a similar resolution, calling for the establishment of a Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, while also refusing to recognise the State of Israel . During the 1977 meeting of the PNC,
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