The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been the embodiment ofthe Palestinian national movement. It is a broad national front, or anumbrella organization, comprised of numerous organizations of theresistance movement, political parties, popular organizations, andindependent personalities and figures from all sectors of life. The Arab
Summit in 1974 recognized the PLO as the "sole and legitimaterepresentative of the Palestinian people "and since then the PLO hasrepresented Palestine at the United Nations, the Movement of Non-Aligned
Countries (NAM), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and inmany other fora. In addition to its broad national and political goals, the
PLO has dealt with numerous tasks with regard to the life of the
Palestinian people in their main communities and throughout the worldthrough the establishment of several institutions in such realms as health,education and social services. As such, the PLO is more than a nationalliberation movement striving to achieve the national goals of the
Palestinian people, including the establishment of a Palestinian state with
Jerusalem as its capital.
The PLO was established in 1964 with Arab support. At that time, the
PLO was headed by Mr. Ahmed Al-Shukairy and, since then, has undergonesignificant changes in its composition, leading bodies, politicalorientation, and even the locales of its headquarters. The leading bodiesof the PLO are the Palestine National Council (PNC), the Central Council,and the Executive Committee. Political pluralism has remained a definingfeature of the organization, as have democratic internal dialogue andattempts to reach decisions by consensus in its bodies, recognizing thepresence of many differing views and competing alliances throughoutdifferent periods. In 1968, the organization witnessed the beginning of theengagement of the Feda'iyeen organizations (armed struggle organizations),particularly Fateh. In 1969, Yasser Arafat, leader of Fateh, became the
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO and, in 1971, he became the
General Commander of the Palestine Forces. His name has been synonymouswith the PLO and with the Palestinian national movement.
Since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) andthe convening of general elections in January 1996 in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, which were preceded by thereturn of most Palestinian leaders to their homeland, the Authority's roleand responsibilities continue to increase, in some ways at the expense ofthe PLO. In the Palestinian territory, as well as outside, Islamic groupsremain outside the PLO, which traditionally has not mixed religion andpolitics.
In general, the current Palestinian situation is constantly changingand progressing towards the establishment of a state and the building of a
Palestinian democracy. These changes will affect the PLO, but there is nodoubt that, at least for some time, the PLO will continue its role as avery important Palestinian structure for the Palestinian people in the
Occupied Territories, in the refugee camps, and throughout the world.
Structure:
I. Palestine National Council
The PNC, which is the highest decision-making body of the PLO, isconsidered to be the parliament of all Palestinians inside and outside ofthe Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. The PNC normallysets PLO policies, elects the Executive Committee and makes the necessarychanges in its own membership, as well as changes to the Palestine National
Charter (a special meeting is required) and to the Fundamental Law of theorganization. The PNC also elects a speaker, two deputies and a secretary,who make up the Bureau of the Council. The Council has its own standingcommittees for various aspects of its work, such as its legal and politicalcommittees. The composition of the PNC represents all sectors of the
Palestinian community worldwide and includes numerous organizations of theresistance movement, political parties, popular organizations (each of theabove is represented by specific quotas) and independent personalities andfigures from all sectors of life, including intellectuals, religiousleaders and businessmen. The current membership of the PNC stands at X,including all of the 88 elected members of the Palestine Legislative
Council (PLC).
II. Central Council
The Central Council, which was established by the PNC in 1973, is thesecond leading body of the PLO. The Council functions as an intermediarybody between the PNC and the Executive Committee. At present, themembership stands at 124, including 15 representatives of the PLC. The lastmeeting of the Central Council took place in Gaza on 10 December 1998.
III. Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is the daily leading body of the PLO and itrepresents the organization at the international level. The Committee iselected by the members of PNC and it is responsible to the PNC. Its mainfunction is to execute the policies and decisions set out by the PNC andthe Central Council. The Committee is also responsible for adopting abudget and for overseeing the functioning of the departments of the PLO,the responsibilities of which are distributed among its members. Decisionsof the Committee are taken by a simple majority. Its membership stands at
18, including its Chairman.
IV. Palestine National Fund
The Fund is managed by a board of directors and by a chairman who iselected by the PNC and who automatically serves on the Executive Committee.
The other members of the board are appointed by the Executive Committee,with a maximum of 11 members. Revenues for the fund come from two sources --a fixed tax on the wages earned by all Palestinians living in Arabcountries and collected by those respective governments and from financialcontributions by Arab governments and peoples, an amount that in the pastwas substantial.
V. Palestine Liberation Army
The Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) was established as the officialmilitary branch of the PLO in 1964, in accordance with the resolutions ofthe 1st Palestinian Conference (the 1st PNC). At that time, three brigadeswere established: Ein Jalut in Gaza and Egypt, Kadissiyah in Iraq, and
Hiteen in Syria. In practice, those brigades were dominated by the generalcommand of the armed forces of their respective host countries. Over time,however, changes were made to the PLA's structure, including, for instance,the establishment in 1968 of commando units in Gaza to fight against the
Israeli occupation, known as Kuwat al-Tahrir Al-Sha'biya (Popular
Liberation Troops). Recently, with the establishment of the Palestine
National Authority (PNA), important parts of those brigades in Egypt and
Jordan were absorbed into the PNA security forces.
VI. Departments
The Organization has established departments that are responsible forseveral important spheres of work, each headed by a member of the Executive
Committee. The departments include the Political Department, the Departmentof Returnees, the Department of Culture and Information, and the Departmentof Popular Organizations. Of these, the Political Department is thelargest. It directs and supervises the work of Palestinian representationabroad, including Palestinian embassies, missions and offices. The
Political Department also represents the PLO and the State of Palestine atinternational conferences, such as those of the Movement of Non-Aligned
Countries (NAM) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). (Forthe addresses of all embassies look under the Directory of Palestinian
Embassies & Missions for the addresses of all embassies).
VII. Palestinian Institutions
The institutions of the PLO have achieved significant accomplishmentsthrough the myriad of social, economic and health services that theyprovide to Palestinian communities. Among the most important of theseinstitutions are the following:
• Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS): Established in 1968 in Jordan,the PRCS provides medical and health care to the Palestinian people. The
PRCS started out with only several small clinics and grew into asubstantial medical network with hospitals and medical centers throughoutthe region.
• Palestinian Martyrs Works Society (SAMED): SAMED provided, throughoutan important period, the economic infrastructure of the Palestiniancommunity. It had been established in 1970 originally to provide vocationaltraining to the children of Palestinian martyrs.
• Sons of Martyrs: This organization owns several important facilitiesin the region that take care of the children of Palestinian martyrs.
