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Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)

Website:

www.plo.ps/en
Type:

Pro-Palestinian Nationalist and Militant Organization
Status:

Foreign Political and Militant Organization
Formation:

1964
Location:

Ramallah, Israel

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The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is an umbrella organization for several Palestinian groups that has been recognized as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in international negotiations and institutions. 1 Originally founded with Marxist-Leninist 2 influence in 1964, the PLO engaged in protracted guerilla war against Israel at various points between the 1960s and 1980s. 3 4

The PLO accepted the concept of a “two-state” solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict in 1988 5 and has in theory accepted the existence of Israel based on the 1967 Arab-Israeli armistice lines since 1993, 6 7 despite threats from Palestinian Authority leader and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas in remarks to the United Nations (UN) in 2021. 8 In December 1987, the United States labeled the PLO a terrorist organization; 9 most presidential administrations have issued a waiver to allow official contact between the organization as representative of Palestinians and the U.S. government. 10

Mahmoud Abbas has been the chairman of the PLO since succeeding Yasser Arafat in 2004. 11 Abbas is also the president of the Palestinian Authority and the head of the Fatah political movement. 12

History and Leadership

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is an organization influenced by Marxism-Leninism 13 that was founded in 1964 at an Arab League summit to centralize the efforts of various Palestinian groups that operated as clandestine militant movements against the government of Israel. 14 The founding conference established committees to draft military and political plans to defeat Israel while also establishing the PLO and naming former Syrian representative to the United Nations Ahmad Shukeiri as its chairman. 15

The PLO also set up a legislative body, the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the PLO Executive Committee, a National Fund, the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA), and the National Covenant and Basic Law in 1964. 16 The PLO gained United Nations Observer Status recognition in November 1974 17 as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people after a meeting of the Arab League in Rabat, Morocco. 18 19

The PLO and affiliated armed groups engaged in a protracted guerilla war against Israel at various points between the 1960s and 1980s before eventually joining peace negotiations with Israel in 1993. This came after PLO officials were officially excluded from peace talks at the 1991 Madrid Conference. 20 21

In 1988, the PLO accepted the concept of a “two-state” solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. 22 In 1993, the PLO acknowledged Israel’s right to exist despite member organization Fatah’s charter calling for what the U.S. Congressional Research Service characterized as the “destruction of the Zionist state and its economic, political, military, and cultural supports.” 23 This recognition was formalized when then-PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to a five-year peace process through the Oslo Accords. 24 U.S. and Israeli leaders reconvened Israel-Palestine peace talks in 2000 with Arafat as the PLO’s representative at the unsuccessful 2000 Camp David Summit. 25

As of 2023, the PLO is headquartered in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 26 Previously, the organization maintained its headquarters in Jordan until it was expelled in 1971 after armed confrontations with the Jordanian government in 1970. 27 28 The organization has also maintained headquarters in Damascus, Syria, and Beirut, Lebanon. 29 The PLO was forced to move its operations to Tunisia with the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in the 1980s. 30 31

Leaders

Palestine Liberation Organization founder Ahmad Shukeiri was the organization’s chairman from 1964 until his resignation in December 1967. 32 Yahya Hamoudeh was the chairman of the PLO from 1967 until 1969. 33 Yasser Arafat was the chairman of the PLO from 1969 until October 2004. 34

Mahmoud Abbas has served in the role of chairman of the PLO since October 2004. 35 He is also the president of the Palestinian Authority and the head of the Fatah political movement. 36

Activities and Structure

Palestine Liberation Organization is an umbrella organization for different Palestinian groups that has been recognized as the sole legitimate representative of Palestinian people around the world. 37 The PLO was established as a “mobilizing leadership of the forces of the Palestine Arab people to wage the battle of liberation, as a shield for the rights and aspirations of the people of Palestine, and as a road to victory,” according to its National Covenant. The Covenant also called for the destruction of the “Zionist entity,” a reference to the state of Israel. 38

Historically, major constituent groups of the PLO have included Fatah, the political organization of current chairman Mahmoud Abbas; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); PFLP-General Command; Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; and the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF). 39 The PLF is classified by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 40

The PLO’s mainly secular ideology has been rejected by the Islamist militant factions Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 41 42 Despite this, factions related to the PLO and Fatah participated in the Palestinian militant Second Intifada campaign that began in September 2000. 43

The PLO has been dominated by the secular nationalist movements since 1969. The organization consists of an Executive Committee, Palestinian National Council, and a Central Council. Fatah’s charter has called for the destruction of the Zionist state and its economic, political, military, and cultural supports since the 1960s despite the PLO’s acknowledgement of Israel’s right to exist in 1993. 44

The Anti-Apartheid Department of the PLO called for an end to what it identifies as Israel’s settler colonialism and apartheid in the Palestinian territories. These calls have been supported by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, the Palestinian NGO Network, the Palestinian Ministry of Justice, and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC). 45

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) constituent groups have been linked to various terrorist attacks. In 1972, PLO affiliate Black September took 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage at the Munich Olympic Games, killing them after a failed rescue attempt. 46 The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a PLO constituent group, was also responsible for several aircraft hijackings between 1968 and 1974. 47

In December 1987, the United States labeled the PLO as a terrorist organization with the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act. After the signing of the Oslo Accords that brought peace negotiations between Israel and the PLO, certain provisions of the designation were waived. In 1997, the State Department designated certain PLO constituent groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), as foreign terrorist organizations. 48 49

Relations with the United States

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) first opened a representative office in Washington, D.C., in 1978. The organization closed this the office in 1987 50 after Congress passed the the Anti-Terrorism Act labeling the PLO as a terrorist organization. 51

From 1993 until 1997, the President was authorized to waive the prohibition on PLO operations in the United States pursuant to the terms of the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act. 52 In 1994, the PLO opened a new representative office in Washington, D.C. 54

In 2018, the PLO mission to the United States was closed after the Trump administration formally designated Jerusalem, which the PLO claims as part of a future Palestinian state, as Israel’s capital city and the PLO refused to engage with a Trump administration proposal for a Middle East peace settlement. 55

In a March 2023 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, PLO chairman and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas affirmed the importance of the Biden administration’s approach to a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict. 56

Martyrs’ Fund

In 1967, the Palestine Liberation Organization established the martyr’s fund, which issues monthly payments to families of Palestinians killed or wounded in Israel-Palestine conflicts, including the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. The fund is a PLO institution, but receives funds from the Palestinian Authority government. 57

Funding

At the time of its founding, the Palestine Liberation Organization received funding from taxes levied on the salaries of Palestinian workers. In the decades since then, the organization has also received contributions of sympathetic countries, 58 funding from the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and other revenues. 59

References

  1. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  2. [1] Livingston, Marius. “PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and Its Place in Violence and Terror (From International Terrorism in the Contemporary World, 1978.” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. NCJ Number 52742. 1978. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.cato.org/blog/abandoning-us-more-scientists-go-china.
  3. “Palestine Liberation Organization.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization.
  4. “The Madrid Conference, 1991.” U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. 1992. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/madrid-conference.
  5. “Palestinian Liberation Organization.” Al Jazeera. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/plo.html.
  6. [1] “The Oslo Accords and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process.” U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. 2000. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo.
  7. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  8. “Abbas says PLO will not recognize pre-1967 borders unless Israel withdraws.” Al-Monitor. October 5, 2021. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/10/abbas-says-plo-will-not-recognize-pre-1967-borders-unless-israel-withdraws.
  9. “A Timeline of U.S. Policy Toward Palestine.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/breakingtheisraelpalestinestatusquo/timeline
  10. Rosenthal, Aron. “Senior PLO Official Cries Foul as US Drops Kach Terrorist Designation.” The Media Line, May 26, 2022. https://themedialine.org/by-region/senior-plo-official-cries-foul-as-us-drops-kach-terrorist-designation/.
  11. “The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).” University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://lsa.umich.edu/.
  12. Regev, Mark. “Mahmoud Abas: The rise and fall of the Palestinian leader – opinion.” The Jerusalem Post. March 23, 2023. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-735236.
  13. Livingston, Marius. “PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and Its Place in Violence and Terror (From International Terrorism in the Contemporary World, 1978.” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. NCJ Number 52742. 1978. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.cato.org/blog/abandoning-us-more-scientists-go-china.
  14. [1] “Palestine Liberation Organization.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization.
  15. “PLO is Established.” Center for Israel Education. May 28, 1964. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://israeled.org/plo-established/.
  16. “Palestinian Liberation Organization.” Al Jazeera. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/plo.html.
  17. Doubek, James. “50 years ago, the Munich Olympics massacre changed how we think about terrorism.” NPR. September 4, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1116641214/munich-olympics-massacre-hostage-terrorism-israel-germany.
  18. “PLO sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people – LAS Rabat Summit -resolution.” United Nations – The Question of Palestine. October 28, 1974. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-194621/.
  19. “The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).” University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/cmenas-assets/cmenas-documents/unit-of-israel-palestine/Section2_%20PLO.pdf.
  20. “Palestine Liberation Organization.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization.
  21. “The Madrid Conference, 1991.” U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. 1992. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/madrid-conference.
  22. “Palestinian Liberation Organization.” Al Jazeera. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/plo.html.
  23. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  24. “What you need to know about the 1987 Intafada.” PBS. March 22, 2019. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/uncategorized/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-1987-intifada/.
  25. Lustick, Ian S. “Camp David II: The Best Failure and Its Lessons.” Israel Studies Bulletin. Spring 2001. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41805448.
  26. Abu Toameh, Khaled. “PLO offers its Ramallah offices to NGOs shut by Israel.” Jerusalem Post. August 22, 2022. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-715286.
  27. Reidel, Bruce. “Fifty Years after “Black September” in Jordan.” Studies in Intelligence Vol. 64, No. 2 (June 2020): 35-41.  https://www.cia.gov/static/a0e9e907ebef070b8d13a714867f1e5b/Black-September-Jordan.pdf
  28. “The People Involved and Affected.” PBS American Experience. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/people-involved-and-affected/.
  29. Carey, T. Elaine. “With Beirut evacuation finished, PLO is looking for new ‘capital’.” Christian Science Monitor. September 2, 1982. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/0902/090235.html.
  30. Joffe, George. “Tunisia and the PLO.” Journal of Palestine Studies (1987) 16 (2): 181-182. January 1, 1987. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-abstract/16/2/181/45267/Tunisia-and-the-PLO?redirectedFrom=PDF.
  31. “The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).” University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://lsa.umich.edu/.
  32. “PLO is Established.” Center for Israel Education. May 28, 1964. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://israeled.org/plo-established/.
  33. “Palestinian Liberation Organization.” Al Jazeera. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/plo.html.
  34. “Yasser Arafat.” Encyclopædia Britannica, May 8, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasser-Arafat.
  35. “The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).” University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://lsa.umich.edu/.
  36. Regev, Mark. “Mahmoud Abas: The rise and fall of the Palestinian leader – opinion.” The Jerusalem Post. March 23, 2023. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-735236.
  37. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  38. “PLO is Established.” Center for Israel Education. May 28, 1964. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://israeled.org/plo-established/.
  39. Katzman, Kenneth. “The PLO and Its Factions.” CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress. June 10, 2002. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20020610_RS21235_e2697fb726d28d7425b987df2f6282c0309c6f77.pdf.
  40. “Palestine Liberation Front (PLF).” Mapping Palestinian Politics. European Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/palestine_liberation_front/
  41. “What is Hamas?” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas.
  42. “Islamic Jihad (PIJ).” European Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed April 24, 2023.  https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/palestinian_islamic_jihad/.
  43. Katzman, Kenneth. “The PLO and Its Factions.” CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress. June 10, 2002. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20020610_RS21235_e2697fb726d28d7425b987df2f6282c0309c6f77.pdf.
  44. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  45. “The First Anti-Apartheid Palestinian National Conference Call Towards a Global Front to Dismantle Israel’s Regime of Settler-Colonialism and Apartheid.” State of Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization. January 11, 2023. Accessed April 24, 2023. http://www.plo.ps/en/article/211/.
  46. Doubek, James. “50 years ago, the Munich Olympics massacre changed how we think about terrorism.” NPR. September 4, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1116641214/munich-olympics-massacre-hostage-terrorism-israel-germany.
  47. “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Popular-Front-for-the-Liberation-of-Palestine.
  48. “A Timeline of U.S. Policy Toward Palestine.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/breakingtheisraelpalestinestatusquo/timeline.
  49. “Foreign Terrorist Organizations – United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State, October 11, 2022. https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/.
  50. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  51.  “A Timeline of U.S. Policy Toward Palestine.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/breakingtheisraelpalestinestatusquo/timeline.
  52. “A Timeline of U.S. Policy Toward Palestine.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/breakingtheisraelpalestinestatusquo/timeline.
  54. [1] “A Timeline of U.S. Policy Toward Palestine.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/breakingtheisraelpalestinestatusquo/timeline.[/note 53 “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. Updated October 27, 2022. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  55. “A Timeline of U.S. Policy Toward Palestine.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/breakingtheisraelpalestinestatusquo/timeline.
  56. [1] “The President Receives the US Secretary of State.” State of Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization. March 27, 2023. Accessed April 24, 2023. http://www.plo.ps/article/56663/.
  57. Mohammed Daraghmeh and Josef Federman. “Israel puts Palestinians on defense over ‘martyrs’ fund’.” The Seattle Times. July 11, 2016. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/israel-puts-palestinians-on-defensive-over-martyrs-fund/.
  58. “Palestine Liberation Organization.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization.
  59. “UN Funding: U.S. Contributions Withheld for UN-PLO Activities.” U.S. Government Accountability Office. December 6, 1985. Publicly Released January 6, 1986. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.gao.gov/products/nsiad-86-17.
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